The Deceiver I - Secrets
by XRinAbyssX
Summary: Leo, the newest boy to the Glade, arrives in the box just like any other Glader. But, he's got something different about him. Inside his pocket is a note and three bobby pins in his hair. As he tries his hardest to go through the Glade without people catching onto his secret, he begins to become suspicious. But what happens if he finds out his own secret, along with someone else?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - ****Thirteen Years Ago…**

She was only a little girl when her world came crashing down. She was only about three years old, the world still a strange and new place to her. _This_ wasn't a world for a child to grow up in, no matter for any person.

It had been a week since the disease broke out along with the boiling hot heat and lack of supplies. People around them were dropping like flies, all dying in terrible ways.

The little girl's mother had left her a week before that, going off to a better place. She knew a few people there. She had met them two years ago, when the sun started to become hotter, burning people and making it hard for anything to grow. It was horrible. But, they had somehow survived the worst. Well, maybe not the worst.

…

She sat down on her bed, hoping to god that she wouldn't go crazy like the people outside her house. She knew something was wrong when people came down and started shotting needles down at them, injecting them with some kind of liquid.

Even though she was young, she was smarter than most people. She even outsmarted her father sometimes, and he used to be a scientist for a company called 'WICKED' before he left to raise his family.

Her father had been acting strange, but he always did when he had a lack of sleep, so she thought nothing of it. She couldn't bear to think that her father was like the people outside, screaming and going insane.

She got out of bed, going down the stairs. Ever since the disease spread, they had locked all the doors and sealed off the windows, making sure no air came into the house. It became suffocating sometimes with the increasing heat and the lack of air conditioning. But, she would manage.

Her father sat on the couch, holding his head. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what was wrong with him. She thought it was just a simple headache, and a few minutes rest would calm him down.

"Darling," he muttered after a minute of silence. He sounded in too much pain to talk. Every word was putting him through agony.

"Daddy?" she asked, slowly walking over to him. When he didn't answer, she became worried that her worst nightmare had come true. She shook her head, trying to get the thought out of her small head.

No. It couldn't be. It couldn't. If he had it, that would mean she had it, and she didn't want to be crazy.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, walking a little closer. His breaths became short and rapid, like he was losing air. She didn't know what to do.

"Daddy?"

He lowered his head, making her worry. Then, it became silent. She had no idea what was going on with him or why he was acting this way.

Suddenly, the laughter filled the room. Quiet laughter at first, but then it kept increasing into volume, until it sounded like it was more screaming than laughing. Her father lifted his head, showing the creepy smile on his face, his eyes wide as he laughed like a psychopath.

She backed away, tears in her eyes as she started to panic. No. This wasn't happening. He wasn't going insane. He couldn't be.

He stood up, slowly turning towards her. She backed away into a corner, fearing for her life as she clutched onto her dress, sweating so much. And not from the heat.

"Darling," he said, his voice sounding…insane. "My. Head. Hurts."

She had heard those words before. Those were the words the people outside would scream when they banged on the door. They were suffering from the disease as well.

She did the only thing she knew to do. She screamed as she ran away from the corner and over to the front door.

"My. Head. Hurts…My. Head. Hurts," he chanted over and over again, holding his head in agony. It was hurting him so much that he ripped the hair off his head, trying to get easier access to his head, hoping that clutching the skin would ease the pain. She screamed, the noise hurting his ears as she struggled to open the door. She was too short. She jumped and jumped for the handle.

She didn't feel bad for abandoning her father, because it wasn't him. It was just another person corrupted by the disease.

She finally reached the handle, unlocked it and burst out of the house. The searing hot air burned her skin, as did the boiling hot sun. She turned around and saw her father start to scream, his screams not even sounding human.

She quickly ran from the house as fast as she could, hoping to god that nothing would be attracted to the loud noise. As she ran, she passed dead bodies lying on the ground, rotting and burning from the sun.

She resisted the urge to vomit right then and there and kept running. She saw the diseased people looking at her like she was their next meal, but made no moves to chase her.

She had passed two streets by now, still being able to hear her father's animal like screams. She held her head, covering her ears from the terrible noise. Tears were pouring down her face, sizzling as they touched the ground.

Her feet felt like they were burning, like she was running barefoot on fiery coal. She wanted to scream and whimper, but she could do that when she reached safety. She covered her mouth and nose as she ran, not wanting to get infected.

This was a terrible plan as she started to lose oxygen and began to turn blue. She quickly rushed into the first house she saw on the fourth street, slamming the door shut before she took deep slow breaths.

…

Once she caught her breath, she quickly shut all the doors, locking them and the windows, hoping to god that the air in the house wasn't contaminated. And then she realised, she was sitting in a strange house by herself, in darkness.

Luckily, there was no one in the house besides her, which she found while exploring. The three year old sat down on one of the chairs, letting the tears, vomit and utter desperation take over her. She looked up once and saw a picture of the 'Mona Lisa', painted by the famous 'Leonardo Da Vinci'. She smiled slightly. She had always liked his work as a painter and scientist.

But, that wasn't going to save her. She knew that if she was going to survive, she would have to be locked up in the house, slowly going insane anyway.

Either way, she knew she was destined for insanity.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Box**

The air surrounding him was stale and dusty, seeming to suffocate him. He gasped for air as he woke up, his eyes opening wide. His panicked breaths filled the silence as he crawled over to one of the corners, fear taking over any rational thought.

The floor shook underneath him, throwing him off. He screamed as he hit the back of the wall. The trauma made him suddenly feel sick. He wanted to curl up and die. Irrational, he knew, but he was in so much pain it was unbearable.

The teenager held his head, hoping there was no damage. From what he could tell, there wasn't. But, he couldn't be certain. The room was so dark that he couldn't see a thing. It was completely pitch black, making him more scared.

There was another type of jolt which threw him off again. He screamed as he pushed his hand onto the wall, hoping it would stop him from being smacked into the corner. It did somehow, and he slightly relaxed – not by much. He stood up, hoping it would make him feel better. He felt like he was being lifted, like in an elevator but more like a mine-shaft in the late 1800s.

He then heard the sound of chains and pulleys. He then knew that he wasn't just imagining like he was moving upwards, he really was going up. The box that he was in completely hollow from what he could gather. He slammed his hands against the walls, hoping someone would hear him.

"Hello?" he called.

The noise of the chains were so loud that they overpowered his voice, making it almost impossible for him to hear himself. The box started to sway back and forth, which made him feel nauseous again. He slid down the wall, holding his stomach to keep it calm.

…

He started getting used to the swaying and his nausea started to die down. He sighed with some sort of relief as he let go of his stomach. He tuned out the sound of chains to listen to his thoughts, which seemed the most rational at this point.

_Leo._

Alright, maybe not. _Leo_? What is a _Leo_? Why was it familiar?

_My name. Leo. Isn't it?_

He thought for a moment. _Leo_? He went through everything in his mind, but no other name came up. _Leo. _Must be his name. It was an interesting one.

_I wonder who named me that._

And that's what set him off. Wouldn't it have been his parents? But, he couldn't remember them. He couldn't remember life before this – only things that everyone should know. There were no personal memories. Only his name. The only personal thing he knew about himself was his name. He didn't even know his age or what he looked like.

"Leo. Leo. Leo. Leo," he repeated over and over again, wanting to remember it. He thought that if he said it out loud, memories would come back. Nothing. Just…nothing.

…

How long had he been in there? It seemed like an eternity to him. He felt like he was going to go insane in the darkness, listening to the chains rattling over and over again. His eyes still hadn't adjusted, so everything was still unseeable. He knew from that, that he'd only been in there for about a minute or so. With the chains driving him insane and his useless thoughts, he didn't know how long he'd last without smashing something or punching the walls.

He screamed as he punched the metal wall next to him, his knuckles hurting. The pain kept him out of insanity, so he kept doing it over and over again, until the pain became too unbearable. He held his fists as he lied down in the corner, covering his ears, hoping it would stop the noise.

…

Minutes passed. Long, slow minutes. The rattling of the chains were driving him insane once again. He desperately wanted to escape from the stupid box, to see daylight again. He wanted to feel the cool breeze of the cold air on his skin. He wanted to get out of the hot and stuffy metal box.

He stood up, holding the side of the metal box to keep him steady as he walked over to the middle of the box – looking up at what seemed like the roof. There was no light. That, he had already gathered. There was no sign of escape. None.

He sat down again, sighing. Was there any end to this? Would he ever get out? Would he go insane and start ripping his hair out?

…

Instincts said to him that he had been moving upwards for about half an hour now, dreading every second of it. He began to think about what lied on the other side of the metal walls. Why was he in a box? Why was he moving up? Where was he being taken? Would there be people? What was the outside like?

He seemed to forget what it actually looked like, though he did know everything about it. He felt angry again – not knowing anything would make you feel that way too.

Suddenly, the box stopped. The sudden stop threw him off, throwing him across the box. He groaned in agony as he slammed against the wall, his back aching. After this, the box started to sway less and less, finally reaching a stop. He sighed with relief, the stillness refreshing.

But, his relief vanished quickly as the chains stopped and the metal box was left in silence.

…

A minute passed. Two? Three? He couldn't tell. His eyes were finally adjusted to the darkness, which stopped his fear a little. He looked around, wondering if there was anything he had missed before. All he saw was a metal walls surrounding him. Nothing else. Big surprise.

He groaned with annoyance, slamming his hands against the walls again, this time with as much force as he could muster. He only then realised how much his knuckles hurt again, but he didn't care anymore. He knew there was probably blood on them, which meant the walls would have blood on them. He screamed, wanting someone to help him. Nothing. Yet again, nothing.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, low enough for it to only sound like a whisper. He then knotted his eyebrows in confusion.

_Is that my voice? Why does it sound so…?_

It sounded…funny. Odd. Strange. Like an accent of some kind. Whatever it is, it didn't seem normal.

…

A loud noise suddenly came from above, throwing him out his thoughts. He looked up. There was a light that had appeared on the ceiling of the box. It slowly expanded, slowly letting the sunlight shine through. He blocked his eyes, the sudden brightness burning his eyes.

There was a sound of heavy grating, showing sliding doors. Where they always there? They looked like they were being forced open by something from the outside. He gulped, wondering what he would find up there.

He heard noises from above. Actually, there were _voices. _Male voices. He backed up to the back wall, worried.

"Look at the shank."

"Wow, he's a pretty one ain't he?"

"At least he's better looking than the last one."

"He ain't gonna last here."

"Hey Greenie. Hope you enjoyed the one way trip."

"Ain't no way back bro."

He looked up, confused. What the hell was going on? Who was talking? Why were there so many different voices?

"Who the bloody hell are you?!" he shouted, his sudden voice surprising not only the people above, but himself. It sounded a bit high compared to the others.

"The Greenie talks weird."

"The shank speaks like Newt."

"He sounds like a little girl."

Leo's eyes slowly, but surely, adjusted to the light. He could see a group of people standing at the edge of the box, looking down at him. All of them were boys. Every single one of them.

The initial worry slightly calmed down, realising that the boys seemed to be around the same age as him. Or, what he thought it was. But, the fear hadn't completely gone away. It was suddenly turning to anger, bubbling up inside of him.

Someone from above lowered a rope down, staring at him in the face. The end of it was tied in a big loop. Leo looked at it, raising an eyebrow. Could he trust these people? He then looked down at the box he stood in.

_Anything's better than being in there._

He put his right foot – his more dominant one – through the loop. He quickly pushed himself up, gripping tightly onto the rope. Heaps of hands reached down, trying to pull him up. Soon enough, he was lifted off the ground of metal and onto the soft grass. Leo quickly got out of the rope, standing himself up.

He was surrounded by a group of boys. There were about fifty or even sixty of them. They all ranged from being about fourteen to eighteen, from what Leo could guess. They all looked so different, but they were each covered in dirt, giving Leo the impression that they had been working before he came up.

But, that wasn't what got his attention the most. It was the giant walls of metal surrounding them. They were huge, reaching up to the sky. It seemed like they were keeping all these people in, or keeping them out of the real world. The sky was blue, white clouds that never seemed to move. The sun seemed to burn him, but it really wasn't. It was the sudden change in heat and temperature from being in that stupid box.

His jaw dropped as he turned around. There were heaps of those giant walls. They were all the same height, each making him feel small, almost like an ant.

His thoughts were going insane. Where was he? What was going on? Why were there walls surrounding them? Why were there a bunch of boys? Why? Why? Why?

The next words he heard pulled him out of his thoughts, raising even more questions than before.

"Nice to meet ya shank," a voice said. "Welcome to the Glade."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – The Glade**

Leo couldn't believe what he had heard. He thought this kid was just telling a joke and was going to tell him that none of this was real. He shook his head, staring at the walls again. The words continued to circle in his shambled brain, trying to find any sense in them.

No one around him said anything. They simply watched the new boy crane his neck to look at the height of the walls. They must have understood what he was thinking.

He heard a snicker from behind him. Leo turned around, glaring, wondering what could have been so humorous.

"Look at the Greenbean," the scratchy voice said. The voice belonged to a tall, skinny boy with black hair and a giant nose. He had a really annoying smirk plastered on his face. "He's gonna break his shucking neck looking at those."

Some of the boys around him snickered along, making Leo's glare become more threatening. A dark-skinned boy with short hair glared at the boy, the scowl on his face seeming permanent.

"Gally, shut your shucking hole."

Leo then looked at the crowd, then back to the boy who had talked to him. "The Glade?" he asked, his voice breaking the silence.

"That's right. The Glade," a boy with light brown hair said as he walked closer. He had calming blue eyes, filled with light.

"What is this place? Where the hell am I?"

"Nowhere good," the dark-skinned boy said. "Just slim yourself nice and calm."

"How do you expect me to be calm in a situation like this?"

The brown haired boy chuckled, leaning his arm on the other boy's shoulder. "Don't mine him. He doesn't like questions."

"Couldn't tell," Leo muttered, rolling his eyes.

The brown haired boy smirked. "Ya know, I like ya shank. We'll need a sharp tongue like yours around here."

Leo nodded, taking it as a much needed compliment. He turned to the other boys who had now crowded around him, trying to get a better look.

"Ha. Looks like we've got a pretty one here," the boy – Gally – said with a smirk.

"What Keeper do ya think he's gonna get?" another asked.

Gally scoffed. "Please. Like he could do anything. Look at him."

Leo was now thinking about how punchable his face looked. His nose would be good target practice for his fist.

"-I'll bet my liver on it," he continued.

"I'm willing to take the chance."

"Bring it on shank."

_Shank? Keeper? Shuck? _

These words were all strange to him.

_What the hell do they mean? Is this part of the English language and I just forgot about it?_

"I said shut your holes!" the dark-skinned boy yelled. "Keep yapping and next break'll be cut in half!"

The crowd of boys become silent, some more willing than others. Gally crossed his arms, clearly annoyed.

"Come on Alby, calm down," the brown haired boy said, patting him on the back with a warm smile. "You're scaring the Greenie."

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Scaring? Yeah right."

Alby glared at him, not liking his tone. "Anyway, what the hell is going on here?"

The brown haired boy sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "It's a long story. Piece by piece, you'll eventually get it. I'll take ya on the tour tomorrow."

"Till then, keep your violent outbursts to yourself," Alby finished.

"Alby," the boy said sternly. Alby sighed, getting a bit nervous.

"Shuck, sorry. I'm just not good at this stuff."

Leo nodded, a little skeptical. The boy sighed, a smile on his face.

"I'm Nick. Nice to meet ya," he said, holding his hand out.

Leo looked at it for a second, wondering whether or not he should trust these people. But, Nick seemed to be the nicest out of them all so far. He shook his hand, knowing that he was at least better than Gally.

"So, ya mind tellin' me what's going on?" Leo asked.

"If we told ya everything, you'd die right on the spot after you'd klunk your pants," Alby said. Leo knew what that one meant. "The Baggers would have to drag ya off. Ya wouldn't be any use to us then, would ya?"

"Baggers? Why would I die if I knew everything? Can't I just have a bloody answer? Is it so hard?"

"Greenie, your ticking me off."

"Why do you keep calling me that? My name's Leo."

Alby looked annoyed beyond belief. Because of that, he stepped forward, grabbing Leo's shirt collar and lifted him and inch off the ground.

"Listen here ya shank. No interruptions. You'll get your shucking answers later. Till then, keep your mouth shut."

He then let go of him, dropping Leo to the ground. He landed with a grunt, glaring.

No one in the crowd said anything. Everyone remained silent, which seemed strange. Maybe this had been the first time it had happened and the others had no idea what to say?

Nick shook his head, touching Alby on the shoulder. "Alby. I know how much you hate questions, but you need to calm down." He then pointed towards a shanty looking wooden building. "I'll handle it from here. Go and check on Newt."

Alby nodded, walking towards the building. "Sorry 'bout him." His ran his hand through his hair. He looked up at the sky and sighed. He held his hand out and Leo grabbed it, pulling himself up.

"Night's coming," Nick said. Everyone turned towards him. "Runners'll be back soon. Whatever the Creators are doing, they sure like sending people up late recently." He then looked down at Leo and smiled. "Tomorrow morning, after wake up. I'll show ya around the place."

He then chuckled to himself. "Don't worry, your questions will be answered then. All of them."

Leo was confused once again.

_Runners? Creators?_

Nick ran his fingers through his hair again. "Normally, the second in command would show ya where to sleep. But, he's…recovering at the moment. So, Hawk. Show the Greenie where he's sleeping. Got it?"

The boy – who Leo guessed was Hawk – nodded.

"Good that," Nick said with a smile. "Now, I gotta check on the shank. Everyone else, get back to work."

And with that, the nicest person there so far walked away, towards the shanty wooden building. The other boys looked at each other before they eventually left, each of them giving Leo a look as they walked past.

Soon, it was just Leo and Hawk left.

…

"Greetings Greenie." Leo glared. "Leo," he said, correcting himself. "As you heard, I'm Hawk, the shank showin' ya where you're crashing for the night."

"Great," Leo muttered, rolling his eyes. Hawk looked at him, scanning him up and down. "What the hell ya doing?"

"Hmm, Gally was right. Ya are a pretty one, ain't ya?"

Leo glared. "Wouldn't know. Haven't looked in a mirror."

"Right," Hawk said, only now realising what he had said. He had just called a fellow Glader pretty, and the newbie at that. He shook the thought out of his head, changing the subject.

"You're probably confused. We all were as well. You don't seem confused at the moment though."

"What? Of course I'm bloody confused. Who wouldn't be?"

Hawk chuckled slightly, throwing Leo off. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really. Just…Let's just say that you and Newt will become good friends in no time."

"Can you at least answer this question? Who the hell is this Newt guy and why do they keep saying I sound like him?"

"Oh, that. Well, Newt is our second in command, along with Alby. They'd become leaders if anything happened to Nick, but that likely won't happen."

_So, that Nick guy is the leader?_

"He would be doing this right now, but he's stuck in bed. Shucked up his ankle pretty badly. As for you two sounding the same, well…I think it's because you've got the same sort of accent. I think that's what it's called. I think you're both from the same country. One that the rest of us aren't from."

Leo took a deep breath, taking all that in. What was weird though was that they were judging the two of them based on their accent, which seemed stupid and ridiculous.

But, enough of that. We need to get ya a place to rest. You're probably tired from riding up in that klunking box."

Leo nodded, a bit tired. But, that was mostly from the stress. Hawk looked down and noticed Leo's hands. "We're also gonna have to get ya patched up by the Med Jacks. They'll get your knuckles sorted out."

Leo looked down and only noticed his knuckles. They were red and bleeding from punching the metal walls. He hissed from the sudden pain that he hadn't even noticed before.

"Med Jacks?" he asked. "Are they like doctors or something?"

"Closest thing we've got to them." He then sighed, rubbing his head. "Follow me." Hawk started walking towards a wooden shack. Not wanting to be left behind, Leo followed.

…

"This is where you'll be sleeping. Over there is the Homestead. There are beds in there, but most of them are occupied anyway. And besides, most of us like to sleep outside."

Hawk gave him a smile. "Hold on, let me get ya some stuff." He then walked into the building, the Homestead.

Leo took a big sigh, feeling like he wanted to burst out into anger. The questions rattling in his brain were driving him to frustration. He wanted to punch something, but he knew that wasn't going to help. He held it in.

"Got ya sleeping bag," Hawk said as he chucked it at him, closing the door behind him. Leo caught it easily, placing it down on the lawn where heaps of other sleeping bags lied. Leo was silent for the first time, which caught Hawk off guard.

"Leo? Ya right?"

"Yeah. Just talking it all in."

Hawk smiled. "Well, at least you're not tearing up the place. A lot of Greenies' would be crying in the corner right now. You instead, punched the walls of a box."

"Well, everyone's different. But, not having any idea what is going on is driving me insane. I just get angrier than sad. I'll control it though. Me getting angry and punching everything in sight doesn't solve anything."

"Guess not," he said with a shrug.

…

The two walked into the building, heading up the stairs where they found two people inside, cleaning up all the medical supplies that surrounded them.

"Hey Jeff, Clint. I got a job for ya," Hawk said as he closed the door. The two people turned around. One was short with black hair and the other was tall with a giant rose.

"What is it now?" the short one asked.

"Get a splinter again?" the tall one asked, smirking.

"No ya slinthead. You heard the Greenie banging in that box. His hands are pretty shucked."

Leo took that as a cue to hold his hands up, showing the Med Jacks his knuckles.

"Geez, you really went all out on those walls, didn't ya?" the short one asked as he grabbed Leo's hands, getting a closer look.

"I guess I did."

"We'll get 'em treated in no time," the taller one said as he grabbed some bandages and some salt water.

"Thanks," Leo said nodding.

…

The pain seemed to die down after the salt water was poured onto his knuckles. It still hurt like hell though. The tall one – who he learnt was named Jeff – took the bandages and wrapped them around his hands.

The smaller one – who he learnt was named Clint – was talking to Hawk, discussing Newt's situation with his ankle. Leo occasionally listened to their conversation, but Jeff kept talking to him, asking if he remembered anything.

Leo looked down at his hands, noticing that Jeff had finished. He nodded at him before he stood up.

"Ya done?" Hawk asked, crossing his arms.

"For the moment. He'll need to come back in two days. See if anything's changed," Jeff said. Hawk nodded.

"In the meantime, don't do anything stupid that might open the wounds," Clint said and Leo grudgingly nodded. He hated being treated like a little kid.

"Guess what Newbie," Hawk said and Leo looked at him. "Guess we're gonna go meet ya new friend."

…

They entered the room, closing the door. The whole place reminded Leo of a haunted house. The floors creaking and the wallpaper peeling gave the place a great vibe. He still had no idea how he knew what a haunted house was, but, he didn't bother getting angry about it.

Hawk walked up to the bed, perched next to the window. There – sat up against the ball wall – was a tall kid with blonde hair. He had a bandage wrapped around his ankle.

"How ya doing Newt?" Hawk asked.

"Been better," the boy – Newt – said, his eyes saddened, like he was regretting something he did. Something serious.

"Did they say when you start work again?"

"Tomorrow. Been copped up in bed too bloody long." Newt then stood up, slowly placing his injured foot on the ground.

Well, one thing was certain. Leo could now see the resemblance with their voices. They both had the same accent and used the same slang.

Hawk sighed, not knowing what else to say to him. Leo could feel the unwanted tension between the two boys. He stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do. But, he started to observe them.

_It's not a simple injury. Newt did something – Something that caused Hawk to dislike him. What could he have done?_

"I brought the Greenie, like ya wanted."

Newt nodded, looking at Leo curiously. "I'm sure you've heard it plenty but, welcome to the Glade, Greenbean."

"Thanks for the welcome," Leo said nodding. Newt raised an eyebrow, obviously spotting the accent.

"I told ya you'd be good friends," Hawk said to Leo, elbowing him.

Leo and Newt glared at him, neither of them in the mood for stupid jokes. Especially that one. Hawk suddenly looked offended and glared. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll leave."

Hawk then walked out of the room, slamming the door. The room shook and the wooden door fell out of its hinges and to the ground. The room filled with silence as the two looked at the door, then to each other, then back to the door.

"Shuck. Someone's gotta fix that now," Newt said, crossing his arms. Leo said nothing, not knowing what he should say.

_Bloody idiot._

"I heard about your little outburst before," Newt said. Leo looked at him, confused. "I could hear ya punching the walls from here." He chuckled. "See ya shucked them up pretty bad."

"Yeah, I did," he said as he looked at his knuckles, the bandages had fresh blood on them. Great. "I see you stuffed your leg up."

Newt looked down at his ankle, his face changing.

"Oh, sorry," Leo said.

"No, it's fine," Newt said, the sudden change vanishing.

"Is it broken or something?"

"Something like that. They say I won't be able to walk with a buggin' limp from now on."

"Oh. Must be difficult."

"At least I can walk."

Leo nodded. With that, Newt sat back on the bed, looking at the watch on his arm. Leo sat down in one of the chairs, not knowing where he was supposed to go from here.

"So, do _you _think you could answer some of my bloody questions?" Leo asked. Newt looked up, a slight smirk on his face.

"Sorry Greenbean, you'll get all your answers on the tour tomorrow."

He groaned, hating that he was left in the dark.

"Don't ya worry, once ya know you'll be glad that you were kept in the dark for so long. Trust me, I know."

"What do you mean by that?"

He chuckled slightly, giving Leo an unusual feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ignored it. "It might be a bit too much to put on the Greenie on his first day."

"Don't think I can handle it?" Leo asked with a smirk.

"I'd rather not have the buggin' place torn apart by your anger issues."

"I do not have anger issues." Leo rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "That was because I was stuck in a dark bloody box."

"Alright. Whatever ya say Greenbean."

Leo hid a smirk, not wanting to admit that Newt actually seemed to amuse him.

…

They heard a knock on the wall where the door should have been. They turned around and saw Hawk standing there, his arms crossed.

"If you haven't noticed, it's about dinner time," He said, leaning against the wall. "The Runners have come back."

Newt looked at the watch on his arm, nodding to himself.

"Right on time," he muttered. He stood up and looked out the window. "As usual."

A smile appeared on Hawk's face as he saw Leo. "Come on," he said, grabbing Leo's arm. "We're gonna see Frypan. He's our cook around here."

And just like that, Leo was dragged out of the room and over to the kitchen, where he would get some much needed food.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Note**

They reached the kitchen and saw the other boys sitting at different tables, eating the food and talking. Seeing all of this people sitting there, acting like normal teenagers made him think of how horrible the people who put him here were.

They looked like normal kids who would go to school, spend time with their friends, and go home to their loving parents.

Leo looked down slightly, the sudden realisation that he didn't even know his own parents, if he even had any. That made him feel even more alone in a place like this.

How cruel were these people to put children in here? And why would they do this? How would it even benefit them?

Hawk put his hand on Leo's shoulder, taking him out of his thoughts. Hawk smiled at him.

"Come on Leo, Frypan's cooking some casserole," he said.

"It's really not that great, but anything's better than nothing," Newt said as he limped up behind them, though it wasn't really noticeable.

"Is his cooking _that_ bad?" Leo asked.

"Not really," Hawk said. "Now, come on. You must be hungry."

Hawk grabbed Leo's wrist and dragged him forward, much to Leo's protests. He squirmed as hard as he could to try and get away, but he couldn't get out of Hawk's strong grip.

The three soon reached the front where there was a small bench with a heap of plates and utensils on it. Behind it stood a boy who had a beard and had hair everywhere, like it was trying to get out of his clothing.

"Hey Frypan," Hawk said.

"Trying to suck up to get more food huh?" the boy – Frypan – asked, a smile on his face.

"Nah, not today. Frypan, this is Leo – The Greenie."

"Ah, the one who banged on the box," he said, looking him up and down. "Well, nice to meet ya. As long as you don't steal food out of my fridge, we're good."

Leo nodded his head. "Duly noted."

Frypan then grabbed a plate and put a slice of the casserole on it. He handed it over to Leo and put an extra piece of bacon on it.

"Here. I know how hungry Greenie's get on their first day."

"Thanks," Leo said as the other two got their food.

"Hey Newt, finally allowed to work again huh?" Frypan asked.

"Took long enough," Newt muttered. Frypan laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're glad to be out of bed."

"Just got to get used to my shucking leg."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright."

The two nodded at each other before Hawk grabbed Leo and dragged him over to an empty table.

…

"How's the food Greenie?" Hawk asked with a smirk.

"Interesting," Leo said as he quickly scoffed down his food. The stress of riding in that box and being surrounded by a bunch of strange people made him very hungry.

Hawk turned around and smirked, listening to the footsteps coming up behind him.

"So, is this the new Greenie I've heard so much about?" a voice asked. Leo looked up and saw an Asian boy with strong arms and short black hair.

"Yep. This is Leo, the one who shucked his hands up."

Leo lifted his hands up and showed the bloody bandages wrapped around his hands.

"Well Greenie, I'm Minho, the leader around here," he said as he sat down on the opposite side of him.

"Oh really?" Leo asked. "I thought Nick was the leader."

"That's what they want ya to believe. I'm the real leader here."

"Oh yeah, sure you are." Leo rolled his eyes.

Minho smirked slightly, amusement in his eyes.

"Oh great, we've got two sarcastic children," Newt said.

"Oh Newtie, you know you love it," Minho said and Leo had to laugh at that. Minho looked back at him with a smirk, looking at him up and down.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Ooh, he's a pretty one, ain't he?" he asked with a smirk, leaning closer.

"Seriously? Why does everyone keep saying that?" Leo asked, slightly annoyed. He didn't know whether this was supposed to be an insult or a compliment.

"If ya looked in a mirror, you'd see for yourself shank."

"I would if I could find one."

"There is a thing called a bathroom."

"And where would this bathroom be?"

"'Round the corner."

"Oh, is that where you went before coming here?"

"Of course. I take a lot of time and effort in getting my hair right."

"Oh yeah, it shows. You must be staring in the toilet because it looks like klunk."

Minho sat back for a moment, stunned.

"Wow, picked up on the slang already?" Newt asked.

"Only that one."

Minho then leaned forward, a genuine smile on his face.

"Ya know something shank? I think you and I are gonna be good friends, Leo."

"Likewise," Leo said with a smile.

…

After having some sarcastic banter with Minho, Hawk laughing and Newt trying to calm them down, Leo headed towards the bathroom, wanting some peace and quiet to think.

He also wanted to go in the shower to get the blood off of his hands and to see himself in the mirror.

"Hey! Pretty boy!"

_Oh, great._

Leo groaned. He turned and saw the annoying dark haired boy from earlier, the arrogant smirk back on his face. He had clearly followed him outside.

"Pretty boy? If you haven't caught on, my name's Leo."

"Does it really matter?" Gally asked. "You're either gonna be called 'Pretty Boy' or 'Greenie'. Take ya pick."

Leo rolled his eyes, turning his back on him. His wrist was suddenly grabbed, pulling him back and turning him around. He smirked, his arrogant laughter making him uneasy.

"Really? I wasn't even trying," he said. Leo growled. "I hope ya got someone strong hanging 'round ya. You ain't gonna survive here."

"Oh yeah? Why wouldn't I survive?"

"First of all, you're skinny like a twig. You've got no muscle." He grabbed Leo's arm and held it up, showing it off to his friends. "Just face it. People like you don't survive. You wanna know where the people like you are? They're buried in the Deadheads."

Leo growled, trying his best to push Gally off of him.

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure arrogant pricks like you die from stupidity," Leo said as he finally pried Gally's hand off him.

"Aww, is the pretty boy trying to be intimidating. Trust me shank, it ain't working."

Leo growled, wanting to punch the jerk right in his stupid punchable face. Mostly in his crooked nose. But, he refrained himself. Instead, he decided to fight fire with fire.

"Why do you keep calling me pretty? Got a crush?" Leo asked with a smirk. The boys around Gally laughed, making him red from anger.

"Do you wanna go shank?!"

"I'd rather not. I wouldn't want my bloody pretty face to be ruined." Leo gave him a smirk as he turned around. "Also, I wouldn't want to mess up your buggin' face any more than it already is."

Gally screamed at him, clearly red faced with anger.

"Gally, calm down," one of the boys said, holding him down.

"He's not worth it."

"Just you wait shank! You'll pay for that!"

Leo turned his head back around, giving him an even bigger smirk. "I'll be waiting."

He then walked away, leaving Gally in a fit of rage, the boys holding him down.

…

He reached the bathroom and sighed with relief, locking the door behind him so no one would come in. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, not knowing that it was now his nervous habit. He would be left alone with his thoughts, though that might not be the wisest thing to do.

In the peace and quiet, all his thoughts came back, all his anger came back about not knowing anything of the place he was stuck in. He started getting angry and he wanted to punch something again. He had no idea why, but instead of wanting to bawl and cry, he punched the wall beside him.

The bandages slightly dulled down the pain but it was still there. He hissed in pain and held his injured hand, instantly regretting what he did.

_Okay, while injured, don't punch any walls._

He shook his hand, thinking that it would stop the pain. It just made his hand ache from the sudden movements.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself. Stupidest thing he had ever done. He noticed that he stood right in front of the mirror. Wanting to get the focus off of his aching hand, he decided to look at himself, curiosity taking the better of him.

He was amazed at what he saw, the pain suddenly leaving as he focused on his face. Compared to all the other boys, he did look a little girly. And very…pretty.

He had short brown hair with a slight fringe, parted to the right. He had emerald green eyes, pale skin and long eyelashes. His body was scrawny and had little to no muscle on it. He sighed, not really liking his body. Now he knew why Gally was making fun of him.

He touched his face to see if it was even real, and that he wasn't just in a dream. He realised that everything was real and that he hadn't just dreamed of this all incident.

He reached at the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up above his chest, but stopped when he noticed something strange. There were white bandages wrapped tightly around his chest. He completely took his shirt off and chucked it down on the ground.

He heard some kind of metallic sound fall to the ground, clinking onto the wooden floor. Ignoring it for a second, he went back to the bandages. They had no blood on them so he knew there was no kind of wound under them.

He didn't want to take it off. He knew what would be underneath. He didn't know how, maybe it was from experience before he was brought here. Or maybe it was just common knowledge.

He turned back to the ground, confused. He noticed that what dropped was a bobby pin lying on the floor. Curious as to what it was, he reached to the back of his head where it came from. At the ends of his hair were two other pins.

_Pins? But, what are they doing…?_

He quickly took them out, wondering what the hell was going on. The stress of the curiosity was getting to him and his hands were shaking slightly. As he chucked the pins down on the sink, he noticed a strand of hair fall out from underneath his fringe.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered to himself, pulling on the strand. Suddenly, his brown hair loosened and fell to the floor. He quickly looked down at the wig on the floor, suddenly worrying. He looked back up and gasped at what he saw in the mirror.

His hair had been replaced with long strawberry blonde hair, reaching just below his chest. The ends of the hair were curled, giving it more volume.

"Holy…" he whispered, not even wanting to believe what he saw. He stumbled back, almost falling to the ground from the shock. His back hit the wall, scared of the image he saw. He frantically looked through his pant pockets, trying to find some kind of sign or reason as to why this was happening.

He reached into his back pocket and found something. He quickly grabbed it and pulled it out of his pocket and in front of his face. It was a piece of paper, neatly folded.

He began to sweat from the stress of what was going on. His brain was going insane. His thoughts were racing and his head started throbbing. He didn't know why, but tears began to sting his eyes as he opened the piece of paper, looking for the much needed answer to his questions.

His eyes scanned over the piece of paper, reading the five words written in thick black pen. He gasped in shock, starting to shake.

_'Tell anyone and they die'._

His legs began to shake even more. He felt like he was going to collapse at any second. He didn't know why, but knowing that they were people watching them made him want to collapse on the floor.

He fell to his knees, crying as he muffled his mouth. He didn't want them to hear him sounding weak, not after his stunt earlier that day. But, when he thought about the people that sent him to this place, his tears seemed to stop and his anger seemed to boil inside of him like a fire being set aflame.

He screamed, smashing his hands against the bathroom walls. He punched the walls again and again and again, the pain seeming non-existent at that moment. He didn't know why but he kept screaming and screaming, tears pouring down his face as he banged against the walls, blood pouring out from underneath his bandages and down his hands.

He burst out into a sob as he slid down the wall, crying his eyes out. He suddenly heard the sound of the door handle and he flinched. He had almost forgot that he wasn't alone.

"Greenbean, ya right in there?" he heard Newt ask from outside the door. "Do I need to bust the door down?"

He could tell that Newt sounded worried, probably from the loud screaming. He could hear voices of others, whispering at the sudden commotion.

"No!" he shouted, alerting them. "I mean, I'm fine."

He heard banging on the door and he snapped, quickly standing up and running over to his shirt. He pulled it over his head as the banging became louder. He grabbed the pins and his wig and quickly chucked it on his head, pinning it down and securing all the hair.

Suddenly the door was smashed down and there stood Nick, Alby, Newt and Minho.

Luckily, Leo had made it in time.

"What the…?" he heard Nick mutter as he looked at the walls. There was blood on them and there were drops on the floor. He looked at Leo and saw his hands.

He and Alby shared a look before he nodded, walking forward.

"Greenie, it's alright. Calm down," Nick said.

"My name's not Greenie," Leo said slowly. "It's Leo."

"Alright, Leo, we need to get ya cleaned up. Newt, take him to the Med Jacks."

Newt nodded as he walked forward, his limp almost unnoticeable. Leo didn't need anything else but a simple nod from him to walk forward, past all of the boys and towards the building.

The embarrassment seemed to make his anger vanish and his cheeks flushed red as he stared down at his hands.

"That was reckless Greenbean," Newt said as they entered the building.

"I'm sorry," Leo said quietly.

He heard Newt sigh, shaking his head. "It's fine. We all overreacted when we came here…Come on, we need to get ya fixed up…again."

Leo wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. He had every emotion running through him, not knowing which to express. So, he decided to keep them hidden, not wanting to do anything else.

…

After getting his hands treated once again, this time getting even more bandages wrapped around them, he was requested to talk to Nick and Alby about his behaviour.

The other boys stood and watched the scene, all of them silent.

"After you're little outburst in there, we have decided to do the safest thing we could think of. We're putting you in the Slammer for a night, to see how you react," Nick said, his eyes saying otherwise. "If you scream and bang like you did before, we'll have to take much more serious matters. Don't disappoint me Greenie."

Leo looked at all the people in the crowd, some of them not agreeing with this, some in the middle and some wanting him dead. Gally was one of those people.

Newt looked angered, probably because he believed what he had said before, that they all had overreacted.

Minho was in the middle, not knowing what to think. He knew Leo could be dangerous, but he was injuring himself, not others.

Michael stood in the sidelines, in shock and denial. He didn't say anything as he watched Alby grab Leo's arms and drag him towards the Slammer.

…

Leo was roughly chucked into the cell, landing roughly on the ground. He looked at Alby with saddened eyes, realising he was going to be kept in a prison.

"Nothing I can do Greenie. Shouldn't have freaked out."

He locked the door and suddenly, everything came crumbling down. Alby walked away, not saying another word and sending all the others off to bed.

Leo looked at the night sky in-between the bamboo bars, not believing the terrible day that he had. He felt the anger and sadness boiling up again, but he ignored it, lying down and trying to focus on his thoughts.

He had anger issues - that much he could gather. Maybe before he was sent here, he went to classes to manage them, keep them under control. But what disturbed him more was what he saw in the mirror.

The long strawberry blonde hair. The bandages wrapped around his chest, hiding what was there. The note.

He was a girl. He was a very pretty English girl. And he was being disguised as a boy by the people who sent him.

And they were watching him. To see him suffer. They were watching in case he told someone. And if he did, the people watching would kill them. All because of him. Or should we say, her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Wake**

Hours had passed as she stared at the stars through the bars of the Slammer, her back aching from the rough ground. It seemed impossible for her to get any sleep with the thoughts rattling around her brain. The pins at the back of her head didn't help as they stuck into her neck, reminding her of everything that happened. She knew there were going to be scars there.

Scars of that stupid note, the letters imprinting themselves into her memory. Scars of her true identity and the scars of those people watching them, who placed her there and disguised her.

She badly wanted to slam the walls around her - try to break free - but she knew that if she did, the others would hear and do something worse to her. She didn't need that.

She wondered if the sun was ever going to rise, changing the colour of the black sky. It seemed like forever before her eyes slowly started to close, sleep taking over her body.

…

Next thing she knew, someone was shaking her. Her eyes shot opened, jumping out of her skin. She quickly crawled away, wanting to scream. The figure noticed that and put his hand over her mouth.

"Shush Greenie," the voice whispered, his English accent breaking the silence. "We don't want to wake the entire Glade."

Leo sighed with relief, knowing it was Newt, the nicest person in the whole place. She nodded and he slowly took his hand off her mouth.

"What are you doing?" she whispered. "Aren't I supposed to be kept in here because of my 'bad behaviour'?"

"I'm breaking the rules," he said with a slight smirk. "Come on, I need to show ya something."

He got himself out of the Slammer, holding out his hand. She sighed, not wanting to appear weak but took his hand anyway. She stepped outside and saw the Glade with the sun just barely rising, the colour of the sky a slight orange.

"Follow me. And stay close."

She nodded as the two silently walked over the now quite Glade, no one else awake. He looked back and nodded at her, before breaking out into a run. He headed towards the western wall.

Leo, not wanting to be left behind, quickly ran after him, trying not to make too much noise. The light was dim all around the area, but any of the obstacles around them were just dark shadows, which she could easily identify.

Newt stopped, right next the massive wall, making Leo feel even smaller than before. She imagined them to be like giant skyscrapers – something that floated in her faded memory.

Leo looked and noticed a small red light flashing every so often on the walls, moving, stopped, turning on and then off.

"What's the flashing light?" she whispered, confused out of her mind. The red glow felt to her like something bad, like a warning to get away.

Newt stood a couple of feet in front of the ivy on the wall, shrouding it almost like a curtain.

"When you bloody need to know, you'll know, Greenie."

Leo growled, hating the suspension on everything. She just wanted to know things – was that so bad?

"Why does no one want to answer anything I ask? This is getting very agitating."

"Well, keep that inside. Don't like it out or you'll be thrown back in the Slammer."

"The Slammer sucks. Sleeping there would be like sleeping in klunk. It's the worst thing ever."

Newt laughed. Obviously he had never been in there. He quickly cut it off, trying not to wake the others.

"I like ya Greenie," he said with a smirk. "Now shut it and let me show ya somethin'."

Newt stepped forward, digging his hands into the ivy and pulling it apart, separating several vines away from the wall. There, was a dust-frosted window. It was dark, like someone had painted the thing black. Or maybe it was for that moment.

"What the hell are we looking at?" Leo whispered.

"Calm it boy. One'll be comin' along soon enough."

Leo rolled her eyes, wondering if she would even know if anything even passed the window. If it did, she probably wouldn't see it.

A minute passed. Then two. Then three. Several more. Leo hated it. She hated the anticipation of staring into the darkness, knowing something was going to pop up.

Newt stood there patiently and still, staring into the darkness.

_How the hell can he do that? I'm gonna go insane in a minute._

Finally, something changed. There was a glimmer of a light, shining through the window. It seemed very eerie, like something out of a horror movie.

Leo squinted, trying to make out what the thing was. She gulped.

_What the hell is that?_

"Out there's the Maze," Newt whispered. "Everything we do – our whole life, Greenie – revolves around the Maze. Every lovin' second of every lovin' day we spend in honour of the Maze, tryin' to solve somethin' that's not shown us it has a bloody solution, ya know?

"And we want to show ya why it's not to be messed with. Show ya why them buggin' walls close shut every night. Show ya why you should never, never find your butt out there."

Newt then stepped back, holding onto the vines. Leo stepped over to where he was and looked through the window, leaning forward until her nose almost touched the glass.

It took her a second to get adjusted to the moving object on the other side, trying to look past all the grime and dust. She wanted to see what Newt saw, or wanted her to see.

She did. She felt like she had forgotten how to breath, a shiver going up her back.

It was a large, bulbous creature. It was the size of a cow, but it had no distinct shape. It seethed along the ground in the corridor. It climbed the wall opposite it and leaped at the window with a thump.

Leo shrieked – without even thinking – and fell to the ground, crawling away from the window – but the creature bounced backwards, leaving the window undamaged.

Leo breathed in and out, rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. It was a bit too dark to make it all out clearly, but strange lights flashed from somewhere in the darkness, revealing bits of sliver spikes and glistening flesh. Heaps of dangerous sharp objects came out of the body like it's arms: a saw blade, shears, long rods.

The creature was a like an horrific experiment with an animal and machine, and knowing that there was someone there to see it, wanted her flesh. To feast on her human flesh.

Leo felt like was hard to breath, knowing that she had never seen something so disgusting and terrifying before. She quickly stood up, the curiosity faded and the fear taken over.

"What the bloody hell was that thing?!" Leo asked, a shiver going up her spine.

"We call 'em Grievers," Newt answered. "Nasty bugger, eh? Just be Glade Grievers only come out at night. Be thankful for those walls."

Leo swallowed. For one, she would be thankful for the walls. She knew that being one of those Runner things was never going to happen, unless it was only once a month or something. She did not want to encounter one of those.

"Well, now you know what lurks in the bloody Maze, my friend. Now you know this isn't joke time. You've been sent to the Glade, Greenie, and we'll be expectin' ya to survive and help us do what we've been sent here to do."

"We've been sent to do? And what would that be?"

Suddenly, Newt's face hardened and it seemed like every muscle in his body locked.

"Find our way out, Greenie," Newt said. "Solve the buggin' Maze and find the way home."

…

"Now, just pretend I didn't do that, alright?" Newt asked as he locked the doors on the Slammer.

"I guess…Do I get to come out today?" Leo asked.

"That all depends on Nick." He stood up, smiling. "Well, sit tight. We'll figure something out."

And with that, he left her alone with her thoughts once again.

_Great._

…

She heard a knock on the doors and she turned around, wondering who it could be. She noticed it was Hawk, crouching down with a smile.

"Hey Greenie, how's it going?" he asked.

Leo glared, knowing that Hawk knew the answer.

"It's great. I love being thrown in jail and not being able to sleep," Leo replied sarcastically.

Hawk laughed, shaking his head.

"Ya know Greenie, you really are fun. You'll keep me entertained while I work."

Leo rolled her eyes. "Are you here for a reason?"

"Yeah, I am." He turned to the right and picked something up, holding it in front of him. "I brought breakfast."

He opened the door and handed Leo the plate filled with bacon and eggs, a fork lying to the side. "I thought you'd be hungry. Freak-out or not, you should still eat."

"Thanks," Leo said with a nod as she took the plate and set it down on the floor.

"You're just lucky Frypan likes you enough to save you some. You might have been going without otherwise."

Leo nodded, picking up the fork and eating one of the eggs. She was a bit hesitant, remembering what she had seen that morning.

"Let me guess. Newt took ya to see the Grievers?" Hawk asked after a moment of silence. Leo almost choked.

"W-What? How did you?"

"When I was the Greenie, I wouldn't eat after seeing that thing. I went hungry for three whole days before Frypan shoved some food down my throat."

"Oh."

"Well, at least you've got a stronger stomach. With that, you'll be able to survive 'round here."

"Good to know." Leo then stabbed her fork into a piece of bacon and quickly ate it, savouring the taste.

…

"Alright Greenie, I know this decision might not have been the best, but, we needed to take precautions," Nick said as he opened the doors and let Leo out of the Slammer.

"I understand that."

"Well, good. You just need to know that if you do that to anyone else – injuring a Glader – we will not tolerate it."

Leo nodded, stretching her limbs from the unusual position she had to sit in.

"If you do freak-out again, make sure it's somewhere a bit more open, away from everyone else. We don't need the Gladers to be worried. Got it?"

"Got it," Leo said, a smile on her face.

"Good that. I'm guessing you had breakfast?"

Leo nodded and Nick smiled. "Good. We don't want ya on an empty stomach, getting distracted. We want ya to remember all this stuff, since you're gonna be living here."

Living here. Those words didn't seem as comforting to Leo as she might have wanted them too. It seemed like there was no hope, that she was just going to be stuck here forever. And with those things running around, she didn't want that.

"You look a little pale. Did ya take a look out the window?" Nick asked and Leo nodded. "Ya. Didn't expect Newt to listen to the rules, especially went it comes to the Greenie."

He put his hand on her shoulder, sending her a calming smile.

"Well, should we get this tour started?"

She nodded, and he started walking forward, dragging her alongside him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Tour**

The two stared down at the box, which was closed. The double doors lied on the ground, covered in white paint. The sun finally shone over the Glade, brightening it so that the other Gladers could start their usual work.

"This is the box," Nick said, pointing down at the doors. "Once a month, we get a new Greenie. Once a week, we get supplies. Clothes, food, whatever they decide to give us. As you can tell, we ain't needin' a lot."

"Pretty much run the place by yourself?" Leo asked, crossing his arms. Nick nodded. "So, by the sounds of it, you don't know anything about it."

"Righto. You're pretty smart Greenie. We don't know where it came from, how it gets here, who's in charge. The shanks that put us here haven't said a thing."

"Figures," Leo muttered, annoyed.

"We got all the electricity we need, grow and raise most of our food, get clothes and such. We tried to send a Greenie back in the box one time – thing wouldn't move until we took him out."

"So, they've defiantly programmed it well. It knows when someone's still in there and it knows when to come back down. Interesting," Leo said thoughtfully, different types of theories running through her head.

"You really are smart Greenie." He then patted her on the back. "We'll need your intelligence 'round here."

Leo nodded, taking that as a compliment. Nick smiled, pointing over to the Glade.

"Glade's cut into four sections. Gardens, Blood House, Homestead, Deadheads. Got it?"

Leo looked at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering what the hell he meant. She shook her head. "No."

She could tell that Nick wanted to laugh, but he held it in. He pointed to the northeast corner, where the fields and trees filled with fruit were located. "Gardens – where we grow the crops. Water's pumped in through pipes underground – always has been or we'd have started to death."

"It doesn't rain here?"

"Never."

_How could that be? Surely it would have rained at least once._

He pointed to the southeast corner, where the animal pens and the barn was. "Blood House – where we raise and slaughter animals."

Leo gulped. She didn't like the sound of that one.

He pointed at the shanty looking building where her injuries were taken care of, and where people would sleep. "Homestead – It's twice as big than when we first got here. Kept addin' to it when they'd send wood and klunk."

"Are you sure it's stable?" Leo asked.

"It ain't pretty, but it works. I'm sure Hawk told ya that most of us sleep outside anyway, so nothing to worry 'bout."

Leo nodded, keeping all of this lodged somewhere in her brain, trying to restore her memories with something useful.

Nick pointed to the southwest corner, the forest area. "Deadheads – graveyard. It's in the back corner, in the thicker woods. Ain't much else."

"I'm guessing it's quiet over there?"

"Yep. You can go rest, hang out, whatever ya want." He then looked at Leo, signifying that the conversation topic was going to change. "You'll spend the next two weeks working one day for our different job Keepers – until we know what's best for ya."

"Well, what are the jobs?"

"Slopper, Bricknick, Bagger, Track-Hoe – somethin'll stuck, always does."

_I don't even know what those words even mean. They could be the worst jobs in existence for all I know._

Nick motioned for her to follow as he walked towards the south door, located between the Deadheads and the Bloodhouse, the two places she would hate to be in.

She followed, hating the smell from the animal pens.

_They have a Graveyard here. People died here._

That thought made her shiver, feeling disturbed and grief taking over. They were all only teenagers, people who were too young to die. If she ever met the people who put her in here, she would kill them as soon as she saw them.

Nick pointed to the large barn, the red paint faded to a dull rust colour. "Back there's where the Slicers work. Horrible stuff, that. Well, if ya like blood, you can be a Slicer."

Leo felt like being sick. She couldn't even imagine slaughtering a human, let alone a poor defenceless animal. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach, her face going pale.

She looked away and over to the Deadheads, where there was nothing but trees. Colour came back to her face as she imagined the peace and quiet that must have been there, lying under the shaded trees, even with the daylight.

She looked up at the sun, squinting as she slightly covered her eyes. The sun was more orange than it should be – she had no idea why she would know something like that, but then again there were a lot of things that surprised her about herself.

To stop her eyes from burning, she looked back to the Deadheads, seeing something. It was that bright red light that she had seen that morning.

_What is it? And why does it move?_

Nick stopped walking, and Leo quickly stopped once she'd seen that they'd reached the south door. The two walls showing the exit which towered above her. She didn't know why but whenever she looked at them, she felt even smaller than she did the first time she saw them.

Nick turned around, his back to the exit, his face changing from it's usual smile to a frown. "Out there's the Maze."

Leo looked down the path of the Maze, the corridors looking the same as the ones she'd seen at the window. She became a little scared, knowing what was lurking inside. What if one of those Grievers suddenly came out and charged at her.

She shook her head, realising what she was doing. She was scaring herself. She was just paranoid of nothing.

"Two years, I've been here," Nick continued. "Ain't none been here longer. The few before me are already dead."

Leo felt her breath shorten, her heart beat increasing.

"Shuckin' walls move out there at night just as much as the doors."

Leo was shocked. The walls moved? How had she not known that? Maybe it all happened during her insane freak-out during the night, her screams overpowering everything.

"Mappin' it out ain't easy. Nothing easy in here."

_They had been here for two whole years, stuck inside this stupid place like a prison? How could they manage that long?_

"The number one rule 'round here, the only one you'll never be forgiven for breaking." Leo looked up, confused. "Ain't nobody – nobody – allowed in the Maze expect the Runners. Break that rule, and if you ain't killed by Grievers, we'll kill you ourselves. Got it?"

Leo gulped, nodding. She wondered why he had changed his personality so quickly. She just hoped that he was exaggerating and that they wouldn't actually kill her.

She gasped as she saw movement in the corner of her eye, on the left wall of the south door. She sharply turned her head, just in time to see a patch of sliver.

The thing disappeared into the ivy, shaking it. Leo pointed to the wall. "What the bloody hell was that?"

Nick looked and sighed. "Beetle Blades – it's how the Creators watch us."

"The Creators?" Leo looked at him, startled.

"Yeah, that's what we call the shanks that sent us here."

"Oh. Why 'Creators' though?"

"Well, they created this damn thing didn't they? That's why. Oh, and by the way, I advise you not to touch that."

"The Beetle Blades? Why?"

"I'm not sure why, but they hurt if you touch 'em. Someone tried once, didn't end so well for them."

"They died?" Leo asked, backing away from the wall.

"No. Nothing that bad. They're finger became paralysed and they couldn't use it for two months."

"Oh."

"But enough of that. We need to get ya started on work. Meet me in half an hour at the Homestead. I have something do to before that."

Leo nodded as Nick smiled. He then turned around and walked away, past the workers.

…

Leo walked around the Glade, looking at all the people doing their separate jobs. She had taken out some of the jobs that she knew she would be horrible at.

Slicers. She hated blood and felt sick whenever she thought about it. Maybe it wasn't the blood, but more of the slaughtering.

Baggers. She could only guess that it had something to do with the graves, and she didn't want to handle dead bodies.

Those were the definite two that she was never going to do. And if she got given them, well, she'd just have to beg them to change their minds.

She estimated that it had been around half an hour and that she would be needed over at the Homestead. She tried to keep her breaths nice and even, the anger inside her bubbling up. She had read the note again, trying to see if she would remember something if she stared at it. But the more she did, the angrier it made her. She hated them. The Creators.

She sighed as she walked over to the Homestead, opening the door and seeing Nick, Alby and Newt standing there. They had all seemed to be waiting for her to enter.

"Welcome back Greenie," Nick said with a smile. "We've got to start ya on jobs. So, Alby has decided where to put you first."

Alby's look hardened as he nodded, staring at her. "You're going to the Slicers today. No compliments."

Leo gulped. _Fantastic. I've been feeling the need to throw up today._

She wanted to role her eyes at her own sarcastic comments, but thought against it. They would think she was insane, more so than she already was.

Leo rubbed her hands together, trying to prepare herself for the blood and guts that awaited her.

"Come on Greenie, you've got a lot of work to do," Newt said as he put his hand on her back, pushing her out the door and towards the Slicers.

Leo – without noticing – started going pale as they reached closer and closer. Newt noticed.

"Ya right Greenie? You look paler than usual."

"I'm going to slaughter a poor defenceless animal! How would you feel?!" Leo snapped. She realised her outburst and shook her head, calming herself down. "Sorry."

"Don't worry 'bout it. It's usual for the Greenie to detest blood. Most of us do anyway."

With that information, Leo felt a little calmer, knowing that she wasn't just being a wuss.

"We gotta the Keeper – Winston."

Leo nodded as they entered the building.

…

Winston was covered in acne, short but muscular, and it seemed like he enjoyed slaughtering the animals a bit too much. She didn't want to think anything bad about him because he seemed nice, but she just pictured him as some sort of serial killer.

"Nice to meet ya shank," Winston said as he held out his hand for her to shake. She did, and he smiled.

Newt nodded and started walking out of the room. "See ya at the end of the day Greenie."

The door closed and Winston wiped his hands on his shirt. "So, you're not gonna hurt me, are ya?"

Leo shook her head. "No. I might throw up on ya though."

Winston laughed, almost forgetting his nervousness.

"Wouldn't be the first time a Greenie's done it."

Even though he seemed a bit too happy about slaughtering animals, he was a nice kid. Leo enjoyed his company when he wasn't slaughtering the animals.

…

"So, since you'll be working here for the day, I might as well show ya 'round here." He then pointed to one of the pens, filled with pigs and cows. "This one of our two pens. The others filled with sheep and goats. The wool from the sheep makes our clothes and the skin of cows make us leather."

Leo gulped, imaging Winston skinning a cow for its leather. She wanted to throw up, but held it down.

"Over there is the chicken and turkey coops. You can guess what we use them for. We keep the chickens alive so we can cook their eggs. But when they become useless, let's just say we have chicken that night."

Leo squirmed, imagining him eating a leg off a chicken or a turkey. The thought was unsettling to say the least.

She then felt something rub itself against her leg. She looked down, startled when she saw a black Labrador at her feet. She smiled, almost instantly loving the dog.

"I think he likes ya," Winston said and Leo nodded, bending down.

"What's his name?" Leo asked as he reached out to pet the dog.

"His names Bark, named him myself. He's the most silent dog I've ever seen. Never makes a sound."

"So, the name's ironic then?" She patted the dog on the head. Bark panted, sticking his tongue out.

"Pretty much. It's the only quiet thing around here. Plus, he keeps us company if we get lonely."

Leo nodded, continuing to pat the dog. The tour had seemed forgotten at this point.

"How did he get here? Did you bring him up with you when you came in the box?"

"Nah, he was just always here. Not sure why the Creators would send us a dog, but it's something."

Leo stared at the dog, who seemed way too happy for its own good. Even the dog didn't deserve to be in a place like this.

"Well, I think we should get the tour started again," Winston said after a minute silence. Leo nodded, standing back up and started following him. She smiled though when she heard the footsteps of Bark following her everywhere she went.

…

After the tour – which she learnt had taken an hour – he let her start working with the farm animals – feeding, cleaning, fixing a fence, scraping up klunk.

_Klunk._

It was the only Glader slang she knew how to say correctly and she started to become quite found of it.

While feeding one of the chickens, she noticed certain things about how they behaved. Sure, they behaved like normal animals, but it was like they had always been on a farm.

_How long have these animals been here? I'm sure two years would make you pretty adjusted, but, they seem like they were born on a farm. This farm in the Glade._

She didn't know why, but it just seemed weird. How long had they made this place before they would put anyone in it? How long had they been planning all of this? She knew that it must have been a project they had been working years on, especially with the Grievers and the Doors.

_It all seems unreal. And cruel. Unreal and cruel._

…

The third hour of work was the most traumatic thing that she had seen in her whole life. She was forced to watch Winston slaughter a hog and preparing its body parts for future eating.

All she knew was that she had vomited in the corner almost straight away, refusing to look as she heard the poor hog's squeals for help. She started crying in the corner.

Of course, the world hated her as the next thing was lunch break. She knew that after seeing that, she was never going to eat pig again – if she even did before – and that she was never going to work as a Slicer.

_Thank god._

Winston wanted to stay back at the Blood house, for reasons unknown, and let Leo go by herself to the kitchen. She was glad to finally get out of there, hating the smell of blood and guts.

On her way, she ran into Hawk who gladly tried to help her think of eating again, knowing she wouldn't survive without it.

"Come on, just one bite," he said, sticking the fork in front of her face.

"Unless you want me to throw up all over you, no bloody way," Leo said, crossing her arms.

After seeing the food on Hawk's plate, she had rushed to the bathroom and thrown up again. She felt sorry for whoever had to clean up her mess.

"You need to eat Leo."

"Didn't you say that you didn't eat for three days?"

Hawk rolled his eyes. "Yes, but this is different. You need the strength to keep working. You've got work tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that for two whole weeks."

Leo looked at the food on the fork and then shook her head. "No meat. None what so ever."

Hawk put the fork down, clearly annoyed. He called out to Frypan to get her some fruit, which he gladly did, glad that he didn't have to cook another meal.

…

She lied in her sleeping bag that night, finally glad that some of the Gladers now trusted her enough to let her sleep in a nice, comfortable location.

She listened to the peaceful snores of the other Gladers surrounding her, the night silent otherwise. The doors had closed a long time ago, and she finally got to witness it.

It was amazing and tarrying at the same time. The technology that these Creators had to develop showed how much they were dedicated to keeping them here. It was fascinating how much they would waste to torture teenagers.

She stared at the stars in the sky, hoping that she would remember something in her dreams. But any time she dozed off, she woke up a few minutes later, wondering why she couldn't sleep. But then she realised. It was the pins.

The pins dug into her skin, making sleeping almost impossible. The pins kept drawing her back to the note and back to her outburst. She didn't want to freak out again, and she knew it would do no good. But, she also knew that she would eventually do it again.

She just prayed to god that it wouldn't be as bad as the last time. Maybe more like when she was in the box.

She sighed as she decided to take the pins out and place them right next to her sleeping bag, closing her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Jobs I**

She woke up to her third day at the Glade and she knew where she was to go. Leo was in the kitchen, working with Frypan to cook the Glader's food.

"Welcome Greenie, to my kitchen," he said as he held his arms out, showing her all the supplies of food and herbs they had.

"Wow, they really do send a lot up here, don't they?" Leo asked as she stared at something on one of the shelves.

"Yeah. Good thing though. Quite a lot of variety to cook with a variety of ingredients."

During her time in the kitchen, she learned a lot of things about cooking. She didn't want to seem sexist to herself, but she seemed to pick it up pretty quickly.

_Maybe girls are just secretly better at cooking? Or maybe I used to cook before I came here? Wonder what I could make with a recipe._

She felt a bit sick though when she saw pieces of the hog come in and being placed down on the counter, ready to be cooked.

"I think I hate Alby," she muttered.

"He ain't nice to make ya go from Slicers to this," Frypan said nodding, understanding her distaste for the whole thing. "Don't worry, I'll cook it. You go prepare something else."

Leo nodded with gratitude as Frypan smiled, taking bits of the hog away from her and over to the stove.

Frypan was very nice to her, maybe he could tell that she was different from all the others. Or maybe it was because she refused to steal food from him.

_Well, as long as I make some kind of friend here, I'll be fine._

…

She didn't know what she was cooking exactly, but after the whole meat situation with lunch, she was preparing some strange looking food that she had never seen before.

Whatever it was, it looked a bit disgusting. But, anything was better than looking at blood and guts. She moved her hand to grab something when her hand accidentally touched the side of the pan.

"Bloody hell," she cursed as she held her hand.

_Okay. Remember what Clint said, _

'_If you get burnt, put your hand under cold water'._

She reached down to where a bucket of fresh water lied and she stuck her right hand in it, almost instantly calming down the sting of the burn.

"Ya right Leo?" Frypan asked from the other side of the room.

"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine," she said sarcastically.

"What the shuck are ya doing?"

"I burned myself."

Frypan raised an eyebrow as he walked over. "Does that work?"

"What?"

"Running water on a burn?"

"Uh, I think so. Clint had said this morning that if I burnt myself, I should put it under cold water."

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind next time I burn myself on the shucking stove. That thing stings."

Leo nodded, a smile going to her face. Thank god Clint was nice enough to tell her.

…

"Man, this is good," Minho said as he ate some of the bacon off his plate. It was dinner now and he and Leo sat at a table.

"Can you not eat that in front of me?" Leo asked, looking disgusted at the food. She moved her eyes away to look at the plate of fruits in front her.

Frypan had been nice enough to offer her some fruit instead of meat. He said he would never serve her meat again.

"What? Ya still afraid of the Slicers, shank?"

"First of all, don't talk with your mouth full. Second, yes. I hate meat."

"Sooo, you're like a vegetarian?" he asked as he picked up another piece.

Leo questioned that. How did she know what the word meant? How did Minho know what it meant?

_Maybe I was a vegetarian before I came here? Maybe I've always been disgusted by meat, but only realised it when I saw…_

Leo nodded, a smile on her face. "Yeah, I guess I am."

* * *

><p>The fourth day was more of struggle than cooking. She was working with the Builders and of course – because God hates her – Gally was the Keeper. Neither of them were on good terms with the other, so it made everything worse.<p>

"Pretty boy, take these over to the Homestead. You're repairing the door," Gally said as he handed her about six nails and a hammer.

"You're letting me fix a door?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow, suspicious.

"Well, ya can't do any lifting with muscles like that." He held her arm again and lifted it up, showing her the little amount of muscle she had.

"Alright I got it, shank. I'm going now," she said as she walked away and over to the Homestead.

As she entered the room she saw Hawk standing there, holding the door against the frame.

"Well, nice to see ya again Greenie," he said with a smile.

"You're a Builder?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah. Couldn't do anything else. Now hurry up with those and start nailing this shucking door back in."

After a few tries, the nails became easier to put in and soon enough the door was back on its frame.

Hawk opened it and closed it a few times, testing to make sure it was stable again. He smiled as he closed it behind them as they walked out.

"Well done Greenie, ya fixed the door."

"Yeah, that was the easy part. I'm sure everyone can do that."

"Yeah, they can. But, can they lift a bunch of wood?"

Leo looked confused at that and then noticed a bundle of wooden planks lying on the ground. Hawk smirked as he picked them up with ease and placed them in her arms.

"Have fun Greenie."

Leo glared as he walked away, towards the rest of the Builders. She adjusted the planks to get them in a more comfortable position before she started walking.

For someone without much muscle, she was surprisingly strong. She knew that if she worked at the Glade, her muscles would start to develop even faster, and then she could rub it in stupid Gally's face.

She continued to walk over when she noticed Gally looking annoyed from the distance. She smirked, knowing she had proved him wrong. She saw him roll his eyes and go back to building.

…

She sat with another Builder, working out plans on how to add more to the Homestead.

"Is there any way we can make more rooms for the injured?" Leo asked the boy as he thought.

"We do need another room," a second Builder said as he leaned over the wooden table.

The main one rubbed his chin, before he nodded. "There is a way. We'll need a lot of wood and nails. Think ya could get that for me Greenie?"

Leo nodded as she walked over to the supply shed where they stored all the wood. She grabbed two handfuls of wooden planks and a box of nails before she walked out and back over to them.

"Nice score Greenie," the second Builder said as he patted her on the back. The main one nodded.

"Good. Now, all we need is the rest of the Builders to help start building a room."

…

Soon enough they had recruited enough people to go and get started on building another room. She knew that if she was doing this by herself, she knew she would have had no chance on even starting. But, as she watched them working as a team, a small smile crept to her lips as she hammered down a nail.

Hawk had showed her some techniques because Gally – even though he was the Keeper – had 'better' things to attend to and decided to do something else.

"See. It's not that hard," Hawk said as he lifted up a huge plank of wood.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever ya say," Leo said, rubbing her arms. Boy where they going to be sore tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Luckily, Newt was nice enough to change her work schedule for the next day. Her arms and back were aching from the heavy lifting from building and she just wanted to rest.<p>

"I don't even know why they bother to have this job, but it's just as good as restin'," Newt said with a smile as he led her over to the Deadheads.

She was going to be working with the Baggers and she was, let's just say, unpleasant.

"I have to warn ya, they're a bit creepy. Well, ya would have to be if ya worked in here."

_Cause that makes everything better._

They finally found the two Baggers and she noted that they were staring down at the graves.

_That's a great image._

She felt uneasy around them already, and they hadn't even noticed she and Newt were there.

"I already hate it," she whispered and he chuckled.

"You'll be fine," he said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She had no idea why, but she felt like a surge of electricity when through her body. But a pleasant kind of electricity.

"Hey!" he called and the two turned around.

One of them had red hair with blue eyes and the other had black hair and grey eyes. Each of them had bags under their eyes and they seemed content with sitting by corpses.

"Don't freak out the Greenie, alright?" Newt asked them and they nodded, smiles on their faces. He took his hand off her shoulder and smiled. "Well, see ya later Greenie."

…

She had been sitting down in the same spot for over an hour now and the silence was killing her. How could anyone sit still for this long without going insane?

She learnt that the two boys were named Neils – the red head – and Edwin – the black haired one. She noticed that they were whispering to each other, making her feel unsettled. She stood up and decided to check out the graveyard.

The graves had been painted white, but it was done by someone in a hurry as there were streaks of bare wood underneath. Names were craved into each of them.

She knelt down to the closest one and shivered. She felt like a cold breeze had gone through her from just looking at this poor boy's grave. But, it was very humid out in the forest and she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

She was silently thanking Newt for changing her job.

The cross was covered in overgrown weeds. Whoever it was, he was the first one to die because the grave looked the oldest. The name on the grave was _George. _

_How did your life end George? What happened to you?_

"He was the first to get attacked by a Griever," Edwin said behind her and she flinched, standing up.

"It was about a week in and he went to explore the Maze," Neils said as he stared at the grave. His eyes looked saddened, like he _George _was his best friend.

"And that one's _James, _he died being squished by the Doors," Edwin said as he bent down, motioning for her to do the same. "He got too curious and decided to follow the Runners. And…"

"And that's when you decided to make the rule?" Leo asked. The two may have looked creepy from a distance, but they didn't seem that bad.

"Yeah, and then there's _Arch, _who died from being stung," Neils said as he bent down.

"Stung?" Leo asked, her eyebrow's raised.

"Grievers sting ya if they catch ya. If ya don't get the serum in time, ya die."

Edwin gulped as he decided to change the subject. "The last one is _Max._" He felt a lump in his throat.

"What happened to him?" Leo asked quietly.

"He got stuck out in the Maze overnight. Never came back. The collar he wore around his neck was at the entrance the next morning. Grievers brought it back."

Leo gulped. Those creatures now became even more threatening than before and now that she knew they could kill, she knew that deep inside, she never wanted to encounter one.

…

During the night, she kept tossing and turning. She didn't know why, but hearing about how those boys died made it almost impossible for her to sleep. Instead, she dreamed.

…

_She sat down on her sleeping bag, the day shining down on her. She noticed all the other Gladers working like normal, but she knew something was wrong._

_She heard screams coming from inside the Maze and she stood upright, almost stumbling. None of the other Gladers bothered to move as the blood curdling screams continued._

_Each haunted her mind as she put her hands over her ears, trying to block them out. Worse, they sounded like her screams from when she was inside the bathroom._

_She couldn't take it anymore and started crying her eyes out. She started running, running closer and closer to the Maze. The Gladers screamed at her to stop, but she couldn't. She wanted to, but her legs were moving by themselves, like she couldn't control them._

_Her mind consumed with irrational thoughts, telling her to keep running. Soon, she entered the Maze and there stood a Griever, blood surrounding its mouth as its large mechanical arms hovered around her._

_She couldn't scream. She couldn't do anything. _

_Her body moved on it's own as she moved forward, closer to the creature. She felt like if it was human, it would smirk down at her, thinking she was easy prey._

_She only then noticed that she didn't have her wig on, but none of the other Gladers seemed to notice. Everything about the situation was freaking her out, especially the creature staring down at her._

_It moved forward, quickly sweeping her up into its arms and putting her close to its face. Her mind kept telling her to struggle, to fight it, but her body said different. _

_Her body didn't do anything, it just went limp like something else was controlling her. The Griever moved its arms and started waving them close to her body, almost stabbing her with its needles._

_It seemed like it was toying with her. She couldn't do anything to it. She couldn't even escape. She couldn't move her own limbs._

_The Griever finally put her out of her misery and stabbed her with its needles, pricking her what seemed like a thousand times. Finally, it seemed like she finally got control of her body as she screamed a blood curdling scream, the Griever tightening its grip on her._

_It finally let go of her as she fell to the floor, feeling like she was going to die. She gasped for air as her vision started to blacken. Her limbs felt like they were going numb, and her eyes started to slowly close, her heart beat decreasing in speed._

_And then…_

…

She gasped as she sat up in her beanbag, tears stinging the corner of her eyes as she shook. She quickly stood up, putting the pins in her hair and ran towards the forest, the pitch blackness making her stumble over fallen roots and branches.

When she knew she was far away, she screamed into her hands as tears flowed down her face, landing on the ground. She took one hand off and punched the tree, the bark stinging her hand. She kept doing it over and over again until she felt the blood trickle down her knuckles.

She bawled as she slid down the tree, landing on the ground. She curled up in a ball, crying her eyes out as she muffled her screams with her injured hands.

She had dreamed that she died. How could she even dream up something like that? Was her brain deranged?

But, she didn't even know if it was a dream. It was seemed to real, like she was seeing into the future. But she knew that was impossible. It felt like someone was toying with her, putting hallucinations in her dreams to scare her.

Her first thought was that the Creators were doing something to her from outside this place. They were torturing her, watching her to see how she'd react.

She began to cry again but this time, she didn't scream. She just cried. She felt broken, wanting it all to end.

…

Footsteps echoed behind her, breaking the silence. She had been sitting in silence in the dark, letting herself calm down. She was surprised that no one had come sooner, considering how loud she was. Or maybe they thought it was wise to leave her alone.

"Leo, ya calm?" a voice asked. She sighed. At least the person who came to see her was Newt and not Alby.

"I'm…fine."

She heard him sigh as he sat down next to her.

"What was it this time?" he asked. She looked at him. Did he know it was something unusual that caused it? He had said that on a Greenie's first day, they'd freak out.

Did he think that her freak-out wasn't caused by that but something else? Did he know?

"…Nightmare."

"Thought so. Same thing bloody happened to me. Well, not as bad as you."

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't cheer her up. He sighed, standing back up.

"Well, if there's anything bothering you, you'll know where to find me."

He smiled at her before he started walking off, hands in his pockets. She hesitated for a moment before she stood up and quickly followed behind him.

"Couldn't resist huh?" he asked smirking and she rolled her eyes, blushing slightly from embarrassment.

"Shut up," she said as she lightly punched him in the arm. He chuckled as they walked back to the wrapped his arm around her shoulder, trying to calm her down and she smiled.

_Thank you, Newt._ _You really are bloody remarkable._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Jobs II**

The next morning she was tried and unfocused. The nightmare had shaken her and she couldn't get back to sleep. Alby had decided the job for her today, so she knew she wouldn't get a break.

She was more or so surprised that no one had noticed the bobby pins in her wig, or the fact that they were left on the ground at night while she slept. They all still thought she was a boy, and for their safety, that's the way she intended to keep it.

She rubbed her eyes with a yawn as she walked over to the Homestead to meet with the Med Jacks. Not only did she have to get her bandages changed for the third time, but she was working with them today.

"Greenie, ya got to stop injuring yourself," Jeff said as he wrapped the bandage around her hand.

"I can't help it. It keeps me in reality," she said, hissing as Clint looked at the other hand.

"You're gonna get permeant scars if you keep this up shank," he said and she rolled her eyes. She had heard that every time she came in there. It was starting to get annoying.

…

She stretched and upstretched her hands as she stood up and walked to the door. Guessing where she was, she had a good idea of why someone would be knocking. Turns out, it was Edwin – Keeper of the Baggers – with a nail stuck in his hand.

"Oh god, what happened?" she asked as she stared down at his bloody hand, opening the door even wider for him to enter.

"One of the Builders was walking past and dropped a nail. Didn't notice and fell on it," he said, looking away from his own blood.

"We need to get ya patched up," she said as she led him through the Homestead and into the room with all the medical equipment. "Clint, Jeff, we got a job for ya!"

They turned around and noticed the blood dripping on the floor. Jeff hissed at the injury, cringing slightly.

"Alright, let's sit you down while we get prepared," Clint said as he led Edwin over to the bed and sat him down. "Leo, keep him distracted for the moment. We'll need ya in a second."

Leo was glad that they didn't make her choice the medical supplies. Knowing her, she probably pick the wrong ones because of her lack of sleep.

"So, how's working in the Deadheads?" Leo asked, trying to get both their minds off their problems.

"N-Not too bad. Beats being a Slopper," he said, looking everywhere but his hand.

"Slopper?"

"Cleaning up klunk, blood, guts, you name it."

Leo gulped. She knew that she was going to have to try out for that job as well. She just hoped to god that the Keepers found something else that she was good at.

Clint came back with a lot of bandages, some kind of antibiotic, tweezers and a needle and string. Edwin grabbed onto Leo's hand, needing the comfort as he stared at the needle.

"Not a fan of needles?" Leo asked.

He shook his head, his eyes widening as the needle was placed onto the table next to him. Clint nodded to Jeff who bent down.

"Alright, we're gonna have to pull the nail out. Then – Leo, grab the bandages and put as much pressure on the wound as possible. Got it?"

Leo nodded, Edwin looking even more worried as Jeff grabbed the tweezers and went closer to his hand. Jeff quickly grabbed the nail and pulled it out, causing Edwin to scream in pain.

"Now!" he called and Leo quickly grabbed all the bandages and held them down on the wound, pushing down as hard as she could without actually hurting him.

Edwin whimpered as he watched the blood soak through the bandages and onto her hands. He felt so bad for her, considering it was still her first week and she already been through a lot.

Clint grabbed the needle and started threading the string through the hole, ready to start stitching up the wound.

"Alright, remove your hands. Now, you're going to have to be careful with this," he said, handing her the needle and thread.

"Are you sure I can do this? I'm just-"

"You'll do fine Greenie," Jeff interrupted. "We'll be here watching anyway, makin' sure you're doing the right thing."

Leo looked at them and then sighed, looking at the needle. She may not have wanted to do it, but if it was to help someone, she wouldn't be against it.

She sat down next to him and held his hand. She slowly lowered the needle and as gently as she could, pushed it through the skin and started stitching up his hand.

Edwin covered his mouth with his good hand as he screamed into it, hoping to god that the pain would be worth it.

…

"Well done Greenie," Clint said as he slapped her on the back, doing the same to Jeff. "Ya did pretty well for your first day."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Don't be so humble about it," Jeff said with a laugh. "A lot of Greenie's crack under the pressure. They do that with a lot of jobs, but here is vital."

"It's the pressure to impress us that gets them. I believe that you don't think to impress us, and that's why ya don't crack," Clint said and Leo nodded.

"Probably. Or that I've talked to you guys before."

"Yeah, that's a factor too," Jeff said and Leo laughed. Moments like these with the Gladers almost made her forget about her problems, her anger and her nightmare.

* * *

><p>The dream was almost exactly the same as last night, but with a few minor changes, like the time of day or such. She didn't why but it stuck to her, like a Band-Aid on her skin.<p>

She calmed herself down before she could break down luckily, only crying instead of punching things. She was beginning to gain control, but maybe that was because nothing else stress worthy had happened.

Newt had told her that most of the Gladers had nightmares in their early days, but they eventually got over them. Maybe it would be the same with her.

Speaking of Newt, he was smirking at her as she refused to look at the meat on his plate.

"So, how's this vegetarian thing goin'?"

"Great. But I have to watch everyone else eat it."

"Well, that's the price ya pay."

Leo scoffed, rolling her eyes. She saw one of the Builders holding up a bit of bacon, taunting her with it.

"All these bloody shanks need to stop rubbing it in my face. What are they trying to make me puke or something?"

"Shanks?" Newt asked.

"What? Can't I say it?"

"No, it just sounds weird comin' from you."

"You'll get used to it."

Newt stifled a laugh, smiling. "Whatever ya say Greenie."

…

Today, she was going to work with the Track-Hoes in the Gardens. She sighed with relief, knowing that the strenuous hard work would keep her mind off of the note and the scars on her neck. At least she had that going for her.

She saw a black-haired, tall boy with droopy eyes standing in the middle of the field, waiting for her.

"Welcome Greenie," he said. She guessed he was the Keeper. "I'm Zart."

He held his hand out and she shook it, noticing that he smelled of sour milk. She didn't want to know how that was possible though.

"Leo…So, how hard is the work?" she asked, removing her hand.

"That depends, how hard do you want to work?"

"Hard enough to keep me distracted."

He smiled slightly. "Well, you've come to the right place."

…

She noticed that Zart didn't speak much, probably because he thought there was no need too. And there wasn't, besides giving her instructions.

"This, is an apricot tree," he said, pointing to a small tree.

"You guys have an apricot tree? How the bloody hell did ya get that?"

Zart shrugged. "Sent up seeds in the Box."

Leo sighed, things were becoming even more of a mystery, and it was annoying.

"Now use these and prune it."

He handed her a pair of hedge clippers and she stared down at them.

"You're going to trust the Greenie with these?" she asked smirking, being able to name certain people who wouldn't.

"As long as you don't cut someone's arm off or your own, it's fine." Leo shrugged, taking this as a good sign.

She looked at all the leaves and branches and noticed how messy and unappealing it looked. She narrowed her eyebrows, wondering who was in charge to taking care of it.

She quickly started to trim and prune the tree, taking her time and effort into it. Zart watched from a distance, impressed.

…

It was now a little after halfway through the day and they had come back from their lunch break. Zart went off to pick a bunch of weeds, trusting Leo with her own work. He seemed to trust her a lot more than other Greenies, from what Nick had told her.

She went off to pick the vegetables and plant squash and the zucchini seeds. During lunch, Nick had told her that a lot of Greenie's would have been groaning in agony, hating the job, but Leo didn't mind it. She actually liked the job a lot more than the others.

"Need any help?" a voice asked. She turned and saw a boy she hadn't seen before. She gathered that he was a Track-Hoe as well, considering his sweaty and dirt covered clothes.

"Sure," Leo said, moving aside to make room for him. He grabbed the bag of zucchini seeds and started planting them into the ground.

"So, you're the infamous Greenie?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

Leo rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I am. Leo."

He nodded. "I'm Louis, I hope to take over as Keeper for Zart."

She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you want to replace him? Don't think he's doin' a good enough job?"

"No, it's not like that."

"It's because of the title and what they can do," Zart said as he walked over, hands in his pockets. He then bent down on the other side of her, pulling out some of the weeds.

"And what do they do?" Leo asked.

"They're mostly in charge of their own area. For example, I'm in charge of the Track-Hoes, while Gally is in charge of the Builders, etc."

"Do they do anything else?"

"We have Gatherings, where we decide important things. We also decide what job the Greenie gets after two weeks."

"Oh, interesting." She looked down at the squash in front of her.

_Thank god they make plant fruits here. I'd starve otherwise._

* * *

><p>She knew that this was going to be the greatest day of the week. And by that, she meant the worst day. Newt had told her before wake that she was going to be working with the Sloppers.<p>

_Thank god I was good at gardening and being a Med-Jack._

Newt had led her over to a boy about the age of fourteen, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

Newt had a smirk on his face as he patted her on the back. "Well, have fun Greenie," he said before he walked off.

"No! Don't leave me!" she cried dramatically, making him laugh as he continued to walk away.

She sighed, looking down at the kid and noticed his sad face. She sighed, regretting her stupid joke.

"Sorry," she said, running a hand through her hair – by hair she means her wig – which she felt loosen slightly, but it didn't move.

"Understood. I hate it too," he said and she smiled slightly, knowing that she was going to like him. "I'm Emil."

"Leo, the infamous Greenie."

Emil laughed slightly, covering his mouth with his hand. "I didn't know you were a jokester shank."

"Well, ya might as well be when you're living here in this klunk hole."

Emil laughed again, not bothering to hide it this time. Watching his brown eye's lighten up, her heart ached. He was so young and he was forced to leave her for eternity, unless they found a way out. But, the odds were very slim.

"Well, since I'm the Keeper, I might as well get ya to work," he said, a huge grin on his face.

"I can't believe I'm going to be bossed around by a small boy," she said, chuckling to herself. "Oh well, let's get this klunk started."

…

During her work, she began to feel sorry for the boy once again. She knew that if he had to work here, he must have been terrible at all the other jobs up for option.

They were both looking at the Bloodhouse, both ready to puke their guts out. They looked at each other and shuddered.

"Hate it too?" Leo asked.

"I hate blood. Makes me feel faint," Emil said.

"Is that why you couldn't be a Med Jack?"

He nodded, his face going pale. "Hate it too?" he asked.

"Meat. The Slaughtering. I became a vegetarian because of it."

"How is that working for ya?"

_Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?_

"Good. Not missing out on much."

"Hmm, maybe I'll think about it sometime."

…

So, they pretty much skipped cleaning up the Bloodhouse and went towards the kitchen, cleaning up the leftover food and any other mess.

Leo moved the mop up and down on the floor as she cleaned up a section of food off the ground. She put the mop back in the bucket full of water and then mopped the floor again.

_This job really does suck. It's boring and makes me want to fall asleep right on that table, and secondly, it's bloody disgusting._

"Are we done yet?" Emil asked, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"I don't know. Aren't you the Keeper?" Leo asked with a smirk, making him blush.

"Oh, right." He then walked over to her and snatched the mop out of her hands and placed it back in the bucket.

"What are you doing?"

"Let's finish work off early today."

Leo smirked as she and Emil ran out of the door and into the fields, mucking around and playing Games.

…

She lied down in her bed, looking up at the stars. She only now noticed that it was Emil who had always slept next to her, always curled up in a ball in his sleeping bag.

She noticed him fidgeting in his sleep and she knew he was having a nightmare. She acted quickly – not wanting to suffer – and tried to wake him up.

"Emil…Emil…Emil," she whispered as she shook him.

He quickly shot awake, tears in his eyes. It must have been a horrible nightmare as he held his head in his hands.

"Emil, are you okay?" she asked.

He looked up and noticed her. "Mom?" he asked before he started crying again, running into her arms and crying into her chest.

She gasped, shocked. He must have dreamt about his parents. She must have looked like his mother. She felt a pang in her heart at that. He must have figured it out. Maybe he thought she was just a girl with short hair.

But, it didn't matter at that moment. She hugged him back, rocking him back and forth as he continued to cry, his tears soaking her shirt. But she didn't care.

She knew this wasn't a thing any of the other Gladers would have done, but she none of it mattered. Maybe it was because of his young age that made her want to comfort him. Or maybe it was because she was a female, and her motherly instincts wanted to protect him.

She knew from that night that she was going to protect him, help him, comfort him in any way he needed. She knew that this young boy had to survive the Maze. And she was going to do everything in her power to make that happen. He was going to see his mother. She was gonna make sure of it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Gatherings**

**Two Weeks Later…**

_There was a young girl, sitting down on a chair in the distance. The girl was small, but she couldn't identify anything else. The area all around her was pitch black._

_Leo was in a house. Not the Glade, or even the Maze. A house, somewhere in what she was guessing might have been past civilization. Well, that's what she hoped._

_The girl's sobs echoed throughout the house, drowning out Leo's thoughts as her mind focused on the girl. There was a single candle sitting on a table, trying to light up the room. There wasn't much in the house, but the windows and the doors were locked._

_She took steps closer and looked at the girl, trying to see if she could identify her. But every time she did, the little girl got covered in darkness. It was like the dream didn't want her to see the girl._

_She reached out her hand to the girl's shoulder, but her arm seemed to go right through her, giving Leo a tingly feeling. She was a ghost in this dream, simply observing._

_The girl's sobs were cut short as a loud, animal like scream emerged from outside. Leo quickly ran to the window and looked outside, wondering what it was. The girl hadn't moved._

What the hell was that? _Leo thought._

_Leo gulped as the screams continued, but there was nothing in the area, or the street. She heard the little girl growl as she covered her ears, clearly annoyed. Leo flinched every time he screamed, thinking he could appear right in front of the window._

_She guessed he was about a mile or two away, because the window could see down the whole street, but there was nothing._

"_How could this have happened?"_

_Leo turned around sharply to see that the girl had stood up and was looking straight at her, like she could see her._

"_He's gone…He's gone insane."_

"Insane? What do you mean insane?"

_The girl shook her head. Leo wondered if the girl could actually hear her, or was thinking to herself._

"_It's taken everyone. Everyone I ever loved."_

_Leo gulped as the little girl wiped her eyes, her face narrowing as she walked into the kitchen._

"Hey! Where are ya going? What are ya doing?!"

_The girl didn't answer as she reached into a drawer and pulled out something sliver and sharp. A knife._

"Don't touch that! It's not safe!"

_The little girl turned towards her, staring right through her._

"_It's not safe no matter what I do."_

_The little girl turned to the front door and walked towards it, making Leo even more anxious. She opened it, the hot air and bright light seep through, stinging Leo's eyes._

"_It's contaminated. I'll turn into them…Into him."_

"Contaminated? What's contaminated?!"

_The girl turned to her again. "The air silly."_

_The little girl covered her mouth and her nose with the collar of her dress, not wanting to breathe in the air._

The air is contaminated?

_Leo couldn't believe any of this was happening. The girl turned towards her before she stepped outside._

"_Ya coming?"_

_Then she stepped outside, disappearing into the bright light._

"Wait!"

…

She took deep and slow breaths as she awoke, trying to calm down her beating heart. She wiped some sweat off her forehead, but she wasn't scared. She wasn't upset either.

_What was that?_

Her mind rattled with questions as she played with the bandages wrapped around her knuckles. Being there for two weeks, she had quite a few different nightmares, some being worse than others. But, that one was different.

"Mom!" She turned sharply as she sat up in her sleeping bag. Emil had awoken again and was screaming and crying. He looked at her and instantly wrapped his arms around her, crying into her shirt. This was her usual night. Comforting him.

She rubbed his back as he continued to sob, the other Gladers waking up. Luckily, it was the usual wake up time anyway.

"Calm down, it's gonna be okay."

It didn't stop him. Usually that one would work but the nightmare must have been much worse than all the others.

"He alright?" Newt asked as he walked over.

Leo shook her head. "Been doing the same thing for the past two weeks. He must remember things about his mother."

"How can that be?" He bent down to look at the crying boy.

Leo shrugged. "Maybe the Creators are tormenting certain people. Trying to see what'd we do? Or maybe they didn't erase his memories completely?"

Newt thought, rubbing his chin. "He did know more about the outside than we did." He then stood back up. "Well, when he calms down, we need a Gathering. And you're coming."

"Why? I thought my job was decided by the Keepers."

"It is. But now we've got a more important bloody issue."

He looked at Emil and then back at her. She got the idea. "Yeah, sure."

…

She placed the bobby pins back in her hair, as usual. She sighed with relief as she chucked over her hair in the mirror, making sure it was perfectly in place and there were no strands of her real hair sticking out.

Thank god she never tossed and turned in bed.

She had almost been caught numerous times, mostly all of them by Newt, the more observant of the Gladers. He had noticed the bobby pins on the ground and questioned her.

She said they came up with her and that was that. The conversation hadn't come up again, probably because they had more important things to worry about.

She walked out of the bathroom and towards the now busy Glade, the people all starting to work. After today, she would be just like them. She would have an assigned job and would work her butt off, day and night.

She never thought she would be glad to have a job, but with the constant thoughts of the Creators on her mind, the job would distract her.

She could hear Emil still sobbing and she sighed. So, while the Keepers were deciding her job, she would have to try and comfort him down – well, sort of.

"Glad to see you're keeping calm about this Greenie," Minho said as he patted her on the back.

"Shouldn't you be runnin'?" Leo asked, looking at him.

Minho smirked. "In a minute. I've been kicked out of the Gathering."

"Why?"

"Cause ya didn't try out to be a Runner."

"You wouldn't let me!"

"Same difference."

Leo glared slightly, but she was joking around. He looked over at the doors. "Well, see ya Greenie. Good luck."

The sound of metal against metal filled the Glade as the doors slowly opened. He smirked as he waved and ran towards the doors and into the Maze.

…

They had been in there for about an hour now and she started to feel the nerves sink in. Some of the Gladers noticed her pacing back and forth, but they didn't say anything. They all probably went through the same feelings as her.

"Nervous?"

She flinched at the sudden voice and turned around. Emil – who had slept two hours longer than required because of his nightmares – snuck up behind her, cracking a smile as he tried to stop himself from laughing.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Leo said, rolling her eyes. "Ya feelin' better now?"

"Yeah, thanks." He started to blush from embarrassment, knowing everyone in the Glade knew about them.

"You gonna get to work?" Leo asked. Emil shrugged.

"I don't know. Breakfast is soon."

"For you maybe. We've all had breakfast."

"Whatever."

Leo looked back at the Homestead, wondering how long they were going to take.

"You're gonna do fine shank," he said.

"That's easy for you to say. You've got a job."

Emil smirked, rolling his eyes. "I pick up people's klunk for a livin' Leo."

"At least you're doing somethin'."

He shook his head, sighing. "Whatever, I know you'll do fine. You're probably gonna get somethin' good."

"How can ya be so sure?"

"I just know these things." He winked before he turned away and walked off towards the kitchen.

_What the hell was that?_

She followed him over to the kitchen and noticed only a few people in there. Mostly the people waiting for the Gathering to finish. She noticed a plate of food put on the counter, with a note next to it.

She picked it up and read it:

_Emil's food. Don't touch or ya don't get food for a week shuckface._

She heard Emil ran over and he picked up the plate of food. "Thank god."

"I'm guessing a lot of people read the note," Leo said as she put the note back down. It wasn't placed neatly like Frypan would have done, so clearly some people had picked it up.

"I don't care. As long as my food's there."

He took it over to a table and started eating, chowing it down. She noticed some of the Builders were coming in, going to get their buckets of water.

"How ya doing shank?" Hawk asked as he walked over.

"Waitin' for my job."

"Oh, waitin' is a nightmare. Everyone's gone through the same klunk feelin' that you're going through now."

"Well, that makes it a little better."

She started playing with her bandages, a nervous habit she had developed after the first week. It stopped her from smashing her fists into things. She didn't even need to wear the bandages anymore, they just kept her sane.

"You're gonna do fine Greenie," Jeff said as he walked in.

"Ya sure? Will they come out soon?" Leo asked.

"Yep. They'll be out soon. Why?"

"They're gonna call another Gathering later."

"Oh? About what?" Hawk asked.

"About Emil."

"Oh, and his nightmares?" Leo nodded.

She listened as the door opened and in walked Nick, the leader. He looked right at her as he walked forward. She gulped.

"It's your lucky day Greenie," he said. "We've decided."

…

As she sat down in the chair provided for her, the Gladers all stared her down as they sat around her.

"Alright Greenie, as you know, we've been deciding where to put ya," Nick said as he stood up. "Our first decision was going to be to make you a Builder, but someone," he glared at Gally, "refused. So, we're gonna make ya a Track Hoe."

Leo sighed with relief. She noticed Zart smiling as he stood up and shook her hand.

"Good to be workin' with ya," he said and she nodded.

"Likewise," she replied.

"Alright then, glad you're happy with it," Nick said as he smiled. "Go to lunch, all of ya. After, we're having another Gathering, this one more important. Got it?"

Everyone in the room nodded, even Leo.

"Good that."

…

As she walked out of the room, the fellow Track-Hoes congratulating her on her job. Tomorrow would be her first official day of working, and she couldn't wait.

After some much needed food, curtesy of Frypan, the second Gathering of the day was called. Nick had instructed her to follow along, which confused a lot of the Gladers.

They sat back in their same spots, Leo taking the available chair. Knowing about the Gathering, Minho ran through the doors and sat in his seat.

"Back early huh?" Leo asked as the rest sat in their spots.

"Got to do this. I was almost finished anyway."

"Alright, now, as you can tell, this isn't a normal Gathering. This is about Emil who has been having nightmares ever since Leo's got here. And, he's been the only one to comfort him."

Leo was shocked. His nightmares only started when she arrived? How could that be?

"Now, you sleep next to him, don't ya Greenie?"

"Yeah, so?"

"What does he do?"

_Oh, well that's simple enough._

"He wakes up and starts crying and screaming, and he keeps calling out for his mother."

"And he's called you that multiple times, hasn't he?" Newt asked sternly.

_How would he…?_

"He does?" Minho asked confused. "Why would he call you that? You're a dude, aren't ya?"

"We're not here to discuss genders here Minho," Alby said.

Leo gulped, taking a deep breath.

"He's delusional. As Gally's said, I'm pretty girly looking. After waking up from a nightmare, bawling your eyes out, god, anyone can be your bloody mother."

Zart and Frypan looked at each other, nodding. They understood. Winston shared a glance with Gally, like they were reading each other's minds.

"And how does he even remember his mother?" Gally asked. "He hasn't been through the Changing, unlike me. Why can he remember more than I can?!"

_He's been through the Changing? No wonder he's so pissy._

"He seemed to remember more than any of us when he first arrived," Newt said, leaning back in his chair.

"Ya think the Creators didn't erase his memories?" Minho asked.

"Or, are they manipulating his thoughts," Leo said. She then realised what she said.

_Oh, klunk._

"What do you mean by that Leo?" Nick asked.

She gulped. "I mean, his memories might be erased, but the Creators might be putting fake memories into his mind?"

"I wouldn't put it past those shucks," Minho said.

Nick thought for a moment. "Well, what should we do?"

"Lock him in the slammer!" Gally announced. "He knows too much! He might be a spy for them!"

'_I just know these things'_. Those words circled around in her mind. She never wanted to agree with Gally, especially in the circumstances of a small child, but he did have a point.

"Oh please. This is all speculation," Nick said. "We can't decide things based on theories."

"Haven't we done that enough already?" Minho said, leaning back. "We've sent innocent people in the Slammer because your shucking face accused them."

"I'm thinking about the Gladers here, shank. I say we put him away, keep him locked up until he slips."

"No bloody way. He might just be suffering fake memories, as Leo said," Newt said. "The Creators could be doing anythin' to us."

Gally growled. The room soon started erupting in different theories, different punishments, and different ideas. Nick stood up, slamming his hands on the table.

"Alright! Shut it!" he screamed, causing everyone to be silent. "Look, we'll decide this later. Everybody calm the shuck down!" He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'm endin' this Gathering."

Leo watched as he left the room, shutting the door. The other Gladers were all in an awkward silence. Leo looked around the room, hoping to god to catch someone's eye. She noticed Newt doing the same thing. The two caught eye contact and nodded at each other, knowing what the other was thinking.

The two stood up and headed out of the room, away from the working Gladers and into the Deadheads, away from the graves.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Secrets**

The Deadheads were silent as usual, the sound of the animals the only thing to be heard. They weren't sure where Nick had gone, but they weren't going to figure it out considering he was always by himself or with Alby.

"What ya thinkin'?" Newt asked after a minute of silence.

She sighed. "There's no simple solution to this." She crossed her arms. "If we lock him up, we might be locking up an innocent boy. But, if we don't, we might be letting a spy into our home."

"…So?"

"So…I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of agree with Gally."

He raised an eyebrow at her, thinking she was either joking, or that she had smacked her head against something.

"Don't you shanks hate each other?"

Leo rolled her eyes. "I meant that we need to keep an eye on Emil. He knows more than all of us combined, even more than those that went through the Changing."

Newt looked at the ground, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

She had noticed that he did that whenever he was thinking about something. She noticed simple things about him that the other Gladers didn't. And she always felt a little strange when being around him, like her breath was caught in her throat.

And her heart would beat faster at the simplest things he did.

She ran her fingers through her hair, nervous.

_What the bloody hell is wrong with me?!_

"Keep an eye on him?" Newt asked.

"Keep an eye on him. No punishments yet."

He nodded, staring off into the distance. They noticed Nick standing in the middle of the graves, studying them.

"What's he doing?" Leo asked.

"Dunno. The shank's done that since day one."

Nick moved slightly, but he didn't notice them. He rubbed his arm before he walked away, towards the centre of the Glade.

"Think we should talk to him?"

"Let 'em be. He ain't gonna listen anyway."

Leo nodded, staring out into the graveyard. She heard him sigh as he started walking forward, toward the middle of the Glade.

"Where are we goin'?" Leo asked.

"The Box. We're getting the supplies."

She nodded as she followed him, watching the other Gladers working hard. They headed towards the Box and she heard the sound of it riding up.

The first time she'd heard it, she'd wondered how her ears had handled the sound inside it. But, she remembered her experience and instantly wanted to forget it.

She watched as the Box reached the top and the crack in the middle the only thing to be seen of the inside of the Box. Both she and Newt took their spots on opposite sides of the doors. There were hook handles attached on both of the sides, and together they yanked them apart.

As the metallic scrapes ended, the door opened and a puff of dust from the stone rose into the air. She coughed slightly as the dust flew into the air, then blew past her and into the Glade.

Leo picked up the vine and lowered Newt down into the Box, letting him get to the boxes. As they were never usually heavy, he chucked them up and she caught them in her hands, placing them down on the ground next to her.

She opened two of the boxes and looked inside.

"Anything good?" Newt asked from inside the Box.

"Nothin' but a bunch of running shoes." She pulled the vine up, pulling Newt along with her. "Shucking runners get everything."

"Well, that ain't anything new." He picked up the second box. "Get those to the map room. I'll take these to the Builders."

She nodded as she picked up the box and walked over to the map room, ready to fill the cupboards with shoes once again.

…

The two walked in the Deadheads again, wondering what they were going to do. The Keepers hadn't spoken to each other, besides the occasional talk with Minho, and Nick hadn't been seen since by the Gladers since.

The silence was comforting to her, well, sort of. When she was by herself, she would think about the dream she had earlier that day. Only then did she realise that a lot had happened in that one day.

_How could I have dreamt that? Was it a hallucination, implanted into my brain by the Creators? Or was it something from my past? Was that little girl someone I knew? Or was I seeing into the outside world?_

She fiddled with the bandages on her hands, the scars still reminding her of her constant anger issues. She almost forgot he was there, well, until his voice woke her up.

"What are those?" Newt suddenly asked, taking her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, flinching.

"The things at the back of your bloody head."

She instinctively reached to the back of her head, touching the bobby pins.

"Oh, those…I'm not sure really. They just came up with me in the box."

"Look Greenie, you ain't that great of a liar. You may not have noticed, but I can tell when you're bloody lying."

She gulped. She knew that if she said anything, he would find out and then the Creators would kill him. And she didn't want that.

"Take 'em out."

"What?"

"Take 'em out. What are ya hidin'?"

"Nothing!" She noticed, and so did he, that she had said that a little too quickly.

"Then you'll have nothin' to worry about."

She glared slightly, trying to hide the fear and panic inside her. Luckily, it was overpowering her anger, which she didn't want to unleash on Newt of all people.

"And don't make up some shucking excuse saying you can't because I've seen them on the ground in the mornings. You can't sleep with 'em in, can ya?"

She crossed her arms again, huffing. "And why the hell do you want to know what they are so badly?"

"If you haven't noticed, secrets don't work 'round here. They cause more trouble than anything."

She slowly reached her hand to the back of her head, touching the pins. She knew that the hair underneath didn't fall out easily, unless she moved around. But, hopefully she would take them out, hand them to him and then put them back in her hair.

_Breathe in and out. Nothing is going to happen._

She slowly took out one of the pins, feeling the wig loosen slightly. She did the same with the other two and placed them into the palm of his hand.

"What do these even do?" he asked, inspecting them.

"How should I know? It was the only place I could think to put it."

She knew he didn't believe her. She could trick the other Gladers, but she knew she would never get past Newt's observant mind. It was a little aggravating to say the least.

"Greenie, if you know somethin', ya need to say it."

"I-I don't know-"

"Leo," he interrupted, sternly.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alright, I knew what they were when I found them? So what? Still don't know why I have them, but I do!"

He narrowed his eyebrows, staring back at the pins in his hand.

"Was there anything else with ya in that box?"

She gulped. Did he know about the note sitting in her back pocket, constantly torturing her with its message.

"No. Why?"

"Leo. The truth."

She couldn't avoid it. If she didn't say something, he would tell the Keepers and she might be in the same position as Emil. She didn't need them to be suspicious, not after just getting her place in the Glade.

"I got a note."

"A note?"

"Yes, a note. A bloody shucking note."

He stared at her. "Where is it?"

She placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out the folded up piece of paper. She looked down at it once more before handing it over.

He took it off her and opened it, his eyes following the words written.

"Tell anyone, and they die," he said, reading it aloud.

"Oh please, say it louder. I don't think they heard ya in the Homestead," she said sarcastically.

"Not the time Greenie…Why didn't you tell anyone about this?!"

"Why do you think?! The words, 'they die' don't give it away?"

"But you haven't told us anything!"

"Yeah, and that's the way I want it kept. I don't want people's lives being put at risk because of something the Creators are doing. I don't want to be responsible for people dying."

He looked at the note, reading it over and over again, wondering what kind of secret she was hiding from them.

"We need to tell the other Keepers."

"What!? No!" Leo shouted, quickly covering her mouth. "Are you kidding me?! We can't tell them!"

"Why? They're lives are in danger!"

"Which is why we shouldn't bloody tell 'em! They're lives are in enough danger as it is! Telling them would put them in more danger!"

"Then why tell me?"

"Because you wouldn't accept no for an answer!"

He didn't say anything as he looked away, trying to calm himself down. She tried to do the same, but the anger kept bubbling up inside her, ready to explode. He noticed.

"Leo, calm down."

"Calm down? You can't tell me to calm down!"

"Leo-"

"Wouldn't you be going insane, knowing that you could be the cause of people's deaths and misery?! Wouldn't you want to be by yourself and punch everything in sight?!"

"Leo-!"

"How can you expect me to function properly with these thoughts?! Huh?! The scars on my damn neck won't heal and I have them giving me a constant reminder-!"

"Leo!" Newt screamed, interrupting her.

"What!?"

"You have a different colour strand of hair."

"…What?"

"You heard me."

She reached to the back of her head and felt a strand of hair falling out of the wig. She had moved too much with her outburst and her hair was coming out.

_No. No…No. No. No. No._

She quickly hid the strand behind her hand, hoping he would forget about it.

"Leo, don't try to hide it. You're makin' it worse for yourself."

"I-I"

"Leo, nothing bad is going to happen. You need to calm down."

She looked at him, her eyes wanting to fill with tears, but she knew she couldn't do that, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Are you…?" he asked and she sighed. He had figured it out.

"You've figured it out…haven't you?"

The voice sounded like her, it came out of her mouth, but it wasn't her.

_Why did I say that? I didn't want to say that._

"What are you talking about?"

"You've figured it out…haven't you?"

She felt herself move forward and walk towards him.

"Leo? You okay?"

"You've figured it out…"

_Say something else! Please! Why can't I say anything!? Why can't I move my own body?! Why am I walking?!_

Inside, she was screaming, trying to get control over her own body. But outside, she looked like a robot, her voice in monotone.

"Leo. You're not being yourself."

"You've figured it out…and now you're going to die."

_No! Don't do it! Stop! Don't hurt him!_

"You should have listened to the note. We warned you…"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Chuck**

**Two Weeks Later…**

_She kept walking closer and closer as Newt backed up slowly._

"_Leo, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?"_

_She wanted to answer. She wanted to scream at him to run away, but her mouth wouldn't open. She was trapped inside her own head._

Get the hell away from him,_ she screamed at the people controlling her._

"_Leo," he said again, his eyes narrowing._

_She screamed and tried to gain control of her body._

Creators, I know what you're doing. Stop it! Now!

_She guessed that being self-aware helped, because her body stopped moving. It stood still, like they had given up._

_She took this chance to try and gain control, fighting with the people on the other side._

_Her body swayed for a second, before falling to her knees. She was doing it, somehow. She closed her eyes, and let out a giant scream, thinking it would push them away._

_Her mouth opened and she started clawing at her own neck, trying not to let the scream out. So, she kept doing it. She was weakening them. They were going to give up eventually. She just hoped they would do it soon._

_Her hands tried to fight with themselves, shaking as she tried pulling them away from her neck. Slowly, they lowered down to her sides and her scream came through._

Get out of my body!

_Her hands went to her head and held it, like her mind was pushing at her skull. She fell to the ground completely, shaking in agony. The Creators were letting up, they were giving in._

_And with that, her eyes closed as she sighed, feeling herself gain control. But, she passed out and fell unconscious._

"_Shuck it. Med-jacks!" Newt shouted._

…

She awoke with a start, sweating and panting. Her heart was racing so fast that she thought she was going to have a heart attack.

_They're haunting me…_

That memory had replayed over and over in her head, every night when she went to sleep. And every time, she was still terrified of it. It always put her in a foul mood and made her want to stay away from everyone.

They were doing it on purpose. She had no idea why, but she knew they were testing her. And she hated knowing that it was only her going through this, and no one else.

Emil woke up next to her, panting as well.

"You right?" she asked him as he rubbed his eyes.

"I should be asking you that," he said.

She hesitated before answering. "I'm fine."

He knew she was lying, but decided to drop it. She hadn't tried to pry into his dreams, so he wouldn't pry into hers.

She stood up, placing the pins back in her hair. She thanked god that the Creators hadn't done anything else to Newt since that day.

He was the only one who knew and he had done a pretty god job of keeping it a secret. But that was probably because of what happened when it did slip. She told him that she hadn't done that and he went into some kind of…shock.

He stopped talking for a few days, trying to process it all. And throughout, he feared that he was going to die. But luckily, he was still alive.

"You comin' to breakfast?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah. I can't sleep in every day," he said as he stood up, brushing himself off.

At least he had gotten better at controlling his dreams or nightmares. He wouldn't scream and cry during the night anymore. It was like he had just gotten used to them and had given up. At least it put him in a better mood.

The two headed over to the kitchen where they saw the other Gladers sitting at their tables, eating their food. Leo repulsed at the sight of bacon and headed to the bowl of fruits which was placed on the counter.

"Hey Leo," Frypan said with a smile.

"Mornin'," she said with a nod.

"So, ya actually got Emil out of bed today?"

She looked down and noticed Emil glancing at the plate of bacon in front of him, almost drooling at the sight.

She smirked. "What can I say? I'm a miracle worker."

Frypan chuckled as he handed her the bowl and went to serve other Gladers.

…

She wiped her forehead as she dug the shovel into the ground. She had taken off her jacket at this point as the heat was unbearable.

"Tired Greenie?" Zart asked.

"Nah. Just stinkin' hot," she replied.

He nodded, getting back to work. She sighed as she did the same, digging up the dirt and chucking it across the grass.

"Greenie!"

She turned and saw Newt limping over to her.

"My name's Leo," she replied.

"Fine, Leo, we need to talk," he said and she nodded, chucking her shovel down on the ground.

"Don't be too long," Zart said as he planted another seed in the ground.

…

"Lead 'round the Greenie?" she asked, her arms crossed.

Newt nodded. "That's what I said."

"But why? Nick is perfectly capable-"

"Nick is a bit busy taking care of certain…issues. He's sorting out what to do with Emil at the moment and doesn't have time to guide the Greenie around."

Leo sighed. "Great. Just great."

"You'll do fine."

"That's not what bugs me. What if this is someone from the Creators who knows about my…secret."

Newt laughed. "Yeah, I doubt that…Look, you'll be fine. It'll be kept between the two of us. No one else will know. Alright?"

He gently grabbed her shoulders and she nodded.

"Good that."

She smiled. She didn't know why, but ever since he found out about her, he seemed…all the more irresistible to her. Sometimes, she wanted to pull him close and kiss him, but she controlled herself.

She had no idea why she felt that way, but it didn't bother her. He let go of her shoulders and started at the destination of the box.

"So, how do we know when the Greenie's coming?" Leo asked.

"You'll see."

And just as he said that, a loud ringing noise sounded through the Glade, coming from all directions.

Leo covered her ears. "What the bloody hell is that?!"

"That, is the Greenie Alarm."

…

Everyone crowded around the box, awaiting for the new Greenie to appear. The alarm had gone off after two minutes. Half an hour had passed since then, and they were still waiting.

Leo rubbed her palms against her jeans, remembering her crappy time in the box. She wondered how the new kid was handling it.

"Right, when the Greenie gets out that box, someone will go in after it leaves," Nick said with his hands on his hips.

"Will that work?" Leo asked.

"…We don't know," Alby said.

"But's it worth a try," Nick said.

"But, who'd be willin' to go down there?" Newt asked.

The Glade became silent. There was no way any of them wanted to go after the box to see what was there.

"I'll do it," Nick said after a while.

"Ya sure?" Newt asked and he nodded.

"Someone's gotta do it."

The Glade went into murmurs and whispers. What if their leader never came back up? But, what if he found a way out?

"Mommy!"

The Gladers jumped slightly, the voice surprising them. It was a little kid's voice, no older than the age of twelve. It came from inside the box.

Finally, the box reached the top and Newt and Alby took their positions at the sides of the box. They pulled and the doors slowly opened. Leo peered down and noticed a short and podgy kid with long brown hair, crying in the corner.

_Oh…great._

He looked like he klunked himself at least three times by now and he was clinging to that wall. He wasn't going to get out of that box anytime soon, no matter who tried to convince him.

"Where's my mother?!" the kid shouted when he lifted his head back up. He noticed that there was no woman there, well, none that looked like one. He saw that they were all teenage boys and then sunk back to the corner.

"Where is she?!"

When no one answered, he continued to sob into his short arms, the tears landing down on the metal box. The Glade was filled with silence, even the animals were quiet as the kid's sobs filled their ears.

"So, who's good at looking after babies?" Gally asked with a snicker.

The Gladers surrounding him glared, including Leo. At least everyone was thinking the same. This was no time for jokes.

"Gally, shut your shucking hole," Alby said.

"Okay, so, who's good with children?" Nick asked.

Everyone was silent. They hadn't really dealt with children, besides Emil. But, he wasn't a child. He was more of a – they weren't really sure what he was.

"Leo is!"

Speaking of Emil, the crowd parted to show him standing at the back. He had a stupid grin on his face, like he enjoyed torturing her.

"Oh, so pretty boy is a babysitter," Gally teased with his stupid smirk on his face.

"Gally, shut your bloody hole," Leo said with a glare.

She looked over to Newt, who nodded at her. All the Gladers were looking at her. She got the hint. They wanted her to go in the box.

"Fine," she sighed as she pushed through the crowd of Gladers and moved to the edge of the box. Looking down, she didn't want to go back in. Her time in there was enough, now she was forced to go back in.

Newt handed her the vine and slowly lowered her down into the box. She nodded as she jumped off, landing on the metal floor with a loud bang. The boy's head shot up as he flinched, trying to get even further away.

It looked like he'd klunked himself again, just from that. This kid was going to be a hassle. She walked forward slowly, trying not to frighten him.

"Hey, it's alright. We aren't gonna hurt ya," she said as sweetly as she could, without sounding too over the top.

He flinched again, sobbing even harder. She looked up at the Gladers with a shrug, a look that said '_what the hell do I do?'_

The other Gladers didn't have an answer, they just stared blankly at the kid who was still crying. Good god, would he ever stop?

Gally had a smirk on his face as he watched the scene, tempted to jump in and smack the kid. But, he wanted to watch and see what happens.

"Do you know your name?" she asked.

"C-Chuck," the boy stuttered as he slowly looked up. He stared into her eyes, trying to find anything dangerous in them. There wasn't.

"Chuck…Alright Chuck, how about we get out of this box."

She smiled down at him, holding out her hand. He looked at it hesitantly, wondering if he could trust her, or any of the others.

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt ya. And neither are they."

It was a sweet smile she gave him, like one a caring mother would give to her child. The look brought a memory of his own mother's smile and he started sobbing again. He lunged at her, pulling her into a hug.

"Uh…" she said, unsure of what to do.

She looked up at the Gladers and saw them all staring at her with confusion. Emil had a sad smile on his face, knowing the pain Chuck was going through. Newt mouthed the words '_hug him' _to her and she nodded.

She turned back to Chuck and noticed his tears were staining her shirt, but at that moment, she didn't care. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, which calmed him down a bit.

…

Most of the Gladers had gone back to work when Chuck finally started to calm down. She let go of him and he wiped his eyes.

"Are you okay now?" she asked and he nodded.

She smiled. She held out her hand and he took it, instantly feeling like he could trust her. Maybe not the others, but her at least.

She stood up and pulled him up as well, dragging him over to where the vine lied. Newt still had the vine in his hands, waiting for her to grab it. She grabbed onto it firmly, putting her right foot through the loop. He pulled her up, letting her reach the top.

She landed on the grass, as he lifted her foot out of the loop. She smiled as she looked down at Chuck who seemed in a much better mood. He looked up, wondering what he was supposed to do.

"Put your foot in and we'll pull ya up," Newt said.

Chuck looked at him weirdly.

"What?"

"Why do you two talk so weird?" Chuck asked.

The two looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Seriously? What is wrong with our voices?" Leo asked with a laugh.

Newt shrugged. "How am I supposed to bloody know?"

Chuck put his foot through the loop, looking up at them.

"Ready!" he shouts.

The two grab onto the vine and pull him up, making him land on the grass. He shook the vine off of his foot as he pushed himself up.

"Oh, the baby's finally up," Gally said.

"Gally, shut up," Leo said again. "If you keep it up, I'll come over there and beat the klunk outta ya."

Gally scoffed. "Oh yeah. Like you could."

Leo growled, wanting to punch him in his big nose. Newt rolled his eyes.

"Quick! Someone jump in the box!" Nick shouted.

A Glader jumped in, preventing the box from travelling back down.

"Leo, take the Greenie to the Homestead. Leave him there. We'll need you back for this."

She nodded as she patted Chuck on the back.

"Come on Chuck, let's get ya a bed to rest on," she said.

As the two started to walk away, she heard Nick shouting.

"Now, you don't get out of that box until Leo comes back. Got it?"

"Yep!" the Glader in the box shouted.

"Good that."

…

"Here's your bed," Leo said as she chucked the small boy a sleeping bag. "I know it's not much, but it'll do."

The boy nodded. She could tell he was trying to keep his emotions in.

"Now, get yourself comfortable. I need to be somewhere."

She walked away, not after giving him a smile. He gave a sad smile back. When she turned around, she heard him fall to the ground, crying, wanting his mother.

She sighed. She knew Emil and Chuck would become good friends.

…

"You ready?" Alby asked Nick.

Nick had the vine tied around his foot, making sure his foot wouldn't come out of the loop.

Nick looked down at the pitch blackness. The box had gone down about a minute ago and everyone had crowded around.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Newt and Leo looked at each other before they grabbed the vine, along with Alby, Hawk, Gally and a few others.

"Okay, we're lowering you now. Tell us what you see," Leo said as they started threading the vine between their hands, slowly lowering him.

They could hear his heavy breathing as he descended into darkness.

"Nothing. Just black!" he shouted.

"Keep going! You might reach the bottom!" Alby shouted.

They continued to do this for a few minutes, wondering if there was even a bottom. Nick had been silent for the last minute, probably because it was still dark down there.

"You see anything?" Newt asked.

They waited a few seconds for a response.

"Nothing!" Nick shouted back.

"God, do you know if you're anywhere near the bottom?" Leo asked.

There was nothing. Only silence.

They had lowered him down for ten feet, so they thought they might not have heard him anymore.

But, they heard something strange.

A swooshing sound, then the sound of something cracking.

"Shuck," Leo said. She dropped her bit of the vine and ran to the edge of the box. She looked down, but she didn't see anything.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Newt asked.

"Let's hope the shank's alright," Gally said.

Leo looked down again. She saw a little bit of metal flicker past and she gasped. She then heard the sound of something dropping to the ground, the loud thud registering to her as something bad.

"Shuck! Pull him up!" she screamed.

The Gladers quickly grabbed onto the vine and pulled as fast as they could.

She looked down the box and saw something rising from the darkness.

It was Nick. But, he didn't look normal. He didn't look…whole.

As he was pulled up closer, she realised what was wrong.

She screamed as she crawled backwards, not being able to look away. Her body shook violently as she tried her best to get away from the box.

Newt's eyes widened as he dropped his part of the vine and rushed towards her.

"Leo?! What happened?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

She gasped for air. She felt sick to her stomach.

The Gladers didn't stop pulling until they saw his face rise from the Box. But, when he reached the top, all the Gladers gasped in shock and Leo screamed.

There was Nick, the bottom half of him gone. He was sawed in half.

The Gladers dropped the vine, as the top half of his body fell to the grass.

Leo's eyes filled with tears as she screamed again.

Even some of the male Gladers screamed.

Newt held her in his arms, trying to calm her down.

Everyone was panicking at what they saw. Even Alby couldn't keep calm.

Their leader was dead. There was no way out. They were trapped. For good.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Runner**

**Three Weeks Later…**

No one had really been able to deal with their death of their leader, Nick. It had been weeks, but whenever Leo had to go get the supplies, she always trembled when she reached the edge of the box.

That probably would happen quite a lot. It seemed like something she would never get over.

So, today was the day when the supplies came up. She just hoped to god that they would spend up something other than running shoes. They had enough of those, they need more building supplies.

She walked over to the box, her hands in her pockets. She was trying to hide the fact that she was shaking at the sight of the box. Newt walked up beside her, like he normally did.

Alby, having to take over the role as leader, assigned the two of them to get the supplies if Minho wasn't around. Usually, he wasn't, unless he got a new runner on his team.

"You alright?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow, but he handed her the vine. She held onto it as he lowered himself into the box.

"Anything good?" she asked.

"Shoes, some wood, and some kind of food," Newt called as he chucked the boxes up to her.

"Great, just great. How many damn pairs of shoes do they bloody need?"

She picked up the vine again and pulled him up, chucking the vine next to them. They watched as the box went back down, the darkness appearing again.

She gulped. _Now I hate the dark…Fan-bloody-tastic._

The two picked up the boxes and walked them over to the Homestead, where they held all the supplies.

"So, how ya coping?" Newt asked.

"Fine. Just, fine."

"Leo," he said sternly.

"Alright, the stress of it all is killing me," she said as she dropped the box in front of the door. "There's just so much happening right now, and having to deal with both Chuck and Emil is…irritating."

Newt smiled as he touched her shoulders.

"You'll be fine. Eventually, they'll be off your back and you'll be able to worry about more important things. Like getting out of here."

She nodded.

"Yeah, well that better by bloody soon."

…

Leo wiped the sweat off her forehead as she stood up, dusting the dirt off of her jeans. She had just finished planting the seeds into the ground, and now was waiting to be assigned with another job.

"Right, Leo, can you go to the Homestead and bring out the shovels?" Zart asked and she nodded.

"Got it!" she shouted before she ran off towards the building.

She noticed Chuck walking towards her and she sighed.

"Hey Chuck!" she called with a wave.

"Leo! Hi!" he called as he ran towards her, a mop in his hands.

Poor, poor Chuck. He had failed pretty much every job available, so he was placed as a Slopper. As he worked harder than Emil, he was granted the job as Keeper of the Sloppers, though he was never allowed to go to Gatherings.

His young age wouldn't help with decision making, so they traded him in for Leo. Nick had liked her, so Alby had tried to do the same by making her a valuable part of the Glade.

And since none of the Keepers had any objections, well, besides Gally, she was allowed to attend the Gatherings without being a Keeper. She didn't want to be one anyway, considering the amount of responsibilities they faced.

"How's cleaning up klunk going?" she asked, rustling his hair.

"Aww, why did you have to do that? You messed up my freshly washed hair," Chuck wined as he put the mop down, trying to fix his hair up.

Leo laughed. "You shower?" she asked with a smirk.

Chuck glared, but started to laugh. He could never stay mad at her, not after treating him the best out of the others. She had been nice to him throughout his whole '_I'm scared, help me,' _phase, while most of the others had turned away.

"Whatever. How's playing with dirt going?" he asked with a smirk.

"Better than cleaning up klunk ya shank!"

"Ha!"

The two laughed until they saw Zart standing there with a glare on his face.

"Well, I better get back to work," Leo said.

"Yeah, same here."

"See ya!"

…

She held the shovels in her hands as she walked out of the building and towards the Track-Hoes. But, she stopped when she noticed screaming coming from inside the Maze.

"Shuck!" she yelled as she dropped them and ran towards the Doors. She knew that voice. It was Ben, one of the main runners in the Glade.

She squinted her eyes, trying to see him but she couldn't.

"Where the hell…?"

She heard his scream again and noticed the others were looking at the Maze, though none of them moved forward.

She looked down the corridor of the Maze, then back to the Glade, then back to the Maze.

"Aw, shuck it."

She ran into the Maze, not caring about the rule she was breaking. If she was going to break one of the rules, she was going to do it by saving another.

Thankfully, it was only mid-day, so there were many hours before the Doors would shut. She ran down the corridor, taking a sharp right, not sure of where she was going.

Ben screamed again, and she took a quick left, and then a right. She was getting closer, because the screams became louder and louder.

She just hoped to God she would make it on time.

"Ben!" she shouted, hoping he could hear her.

He screamed again, maybe to signify to her that he was nearby. She kept running, taking quick turns every now and again.

She wasn't much of a runner, but she knew she could run better than the average Glader, but not as good as the Runners.

_whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr _

_click-click-click_

She stopped dead in her tracks. She quickly pushed herself against the wall, hoping to god it wouldn't see her.

It was a Griever on the other side of the wall, knowing there was something else in the Maze beside itself.

_whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr _

_click-click-click_

She held her hand over her mouth, trying to calm her loud and fast breaths. It was getting closer, going around the sharp corner.

She slid further and further, down the wall, trying to find some kind of spot of darkness.

_whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr _

_click-click-click_

She waited in fear as it moved past her, not looking her direction. She couldn't move. She couldn't make a sound. She watched its disgusting body as it passed the corridor and kept heading down.

She waited for what seemed like forever before she couldn't hear the terrible sounds any longer. She slowly took a peek round the corner, not seeing it anywhere.

She sighed with relief. She wiped her eyes, which had developed hot tears during that time.

"Leo…help…"

She quickly ran around the corner and saw Ben, crouched down, holding his side.

"Oh no. No. You can't…"

He looked up, tears in his eyes, pain written all over his face. She rushed forward, trying to help him to his feet.

"Come on Ben, get up. We need to get ya the Serum."

"I…can't."

"Yes you can," she said with anger as she bent down, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He struggled to get to his feet, his whole body shaking and stinking of sweat.

"Come on. We can make it."

Ben took a slow and shaky step forward as Leo walked beside him, trying as hard as she could to make him walk faster.

He was lagging behind, and a small part inside of her didn't think they were going to make it.

"I'm…not gonna," Ben struggled to say before he started to drop to the ground.

"Shuck. Come on, get back up," she said as she tried to bend down and pick him up. She tried to pick up his limp body, but she wasn't that strong.

"Shuck it. Minho!" she screamed, hoping he could hear her.

She grabbed Ben's arm and dragged him across the ground, grunting as she used all her strength. She wasn't going to make it in time at this rate. And Ben was going to die if he didn't get there.

"Minho!"

She heard footsteps running up behind her and she turned around, seeing Minho running towards her.

He had sweat running down his arms and his face was red.

"Don't even dare ask why I'm here. You need to help!"

Minho looked down at Ben in a panic.

"No…he's not."

"He is. Now help me get him back to the Glade!"

Minho rushed forward, grabbing one side of Ben's limp body. Leo grabbed the other, and soon they were running as fast as they could with him. Minho yelled out the directions as they took quick turns.

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Left!"

…

They were almost there. She could see some of the Gladers standing at the Doors, watching in amazement as they rushed through.

"Quick! Get the Serum!" she shouted.

One of the Gladers went into a full out sprint towards the Homestead, screaming for the Med-Jacks.

They ran through the doors, landing down on the grass.

Leo was panting heavily as she went to her knees, trying to find where Ben was stung.

Minho looked at her in amazement.

"You're lucky, ya know that shank," he said, taking deep breaths.

She shook her head. "No. I was just determined."

She turned and saw Clint and Jeff running towards them with the Serum. Clint bent down next to Ben and stabbed the needle into his neck.

She sighed with relief. They had made it on time. Ben was going to be alright.

Leo tried to catch her breath, not believing anything that had just happened. She could not believe that she had run into the maze and saved Ben. It was…unlike her.

Were they…?

"Leo!"

_Oh klunk._

She held her chest as she saw Newt rushing up to her.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" he shouted, but she didn't care. He had the right to yell at her, she did disobey the rules. But, she had saved Ben's life.

"I wasn't," she said as she tried to stand, her legs shaking from the excessive amount of running.

During her time in the Glade, she never had to do that much running, ever. She stumbled, almost tripping over her own feet but Newt caught her.

"We'll discuss this later," he muttered as she closed her eyes. She nodded as she tried to regain her balance.

…

She woke up in the bed in the Homestead, the room they had just recently built. The shelves were still empty as this point, but they weren't going to be moved anytime soon.

Not if Ben had survived the night.

She sat up in the bed, noticing the glass of water sitting on a bench. She took a sip, feeling much better. She felt like she had done something heroic, something amazing, but she didn't feel that way.

It wasn't her. She didn't feel like it was her. She felt like the Creators had done something, like they were controlling her legs until they reached safety. But why would they do that? Maybe they didn't do anything, and Leo had only now found her true abilities.

She heard the door open and in walked Newt with a plate of food.

"You're lucky Frypan liked you enough to save you this," he said as he placed it down on the counter.

She chuckled. "I've been told that a lot."

He nodded, sitting down on the bed.

"We're having a Gathering…About you."

"I know, I know. I broke the rules, I should be punished," she said.

"You want to be punished?" he asked.

"No, but I know it's coming…Did Ben…did he?"

"Ben's fine. Well, as fine as he can be…He wouldn't have made it if you didn't…"

He trailed off, not wanting to say the words. She knew what he meant though.

"I took the pins out by the way. They're right over there," he said, pointing to one of the shelves.

"Thanks."

"I know how uncomfortable they are."

She smiled. Ever since he had found out, he had become an even bigger sweetheart than he was before, always making sure she was comfortable. It was cute, and she always got butterflies when he did such things.

"Well, you need to eat. The Gatherings in ten. You better be there."

She nodded as he smiled before he stood back up, going to the door and shutting it as he walked out.

…

She sat in the chair, all the Keepers eye's on her. She felt very small under their gaze and she slumped in her chair.

"Alright, we all know why we're here," Alby said, standing at the front of the room. "We're here to discuss the fate of Leo."

Why did they even need to decide a verdict? Wasn't it obvious that they were going to punish her?

"Now Leo here, has broken our number one rule. Never, go out in the Maze. But, he came back with Ben alive and saved him."

"Why does this need to be decided?" Frypan asked, crossing his arms. "He should be rewarded. Not punished. He _saved _Ben's life. If He didn't run out there, Ben wouldn't be alive right now."

"Well, I guess Frypan's voiced his opinion. You could have waited," Alby said.

Frypan shrugged, slumping in his seat as well.

"Well, since we've heard Frypan's verdict, Zart the Fart, go."

She scrunched up her face.

That was the first time that Alby had called him that. It was…strange. Some of the Keepers chuckled at the nickname.

"I…I don't know." He then stared at her. "He broke one of our rules, but he did save Ben's life…Lock him up for a day and then make him a Runner."

"A runner? Are you shucking kidding me?" Gally asked annoyed.

"Gally," Newt said, glaring at him.

Gally rolled his eyes in response.

"Ya sure?" Alby asked. Zart nodded. "Fine. Next."

The Glader next to him shrugged his shoulders. "I think the same as him."

Alby groaned. "See, this is why we elected Leo to the Council. He at least has his own opinions."

Leo felt herself blush. He continued to ask the others, and they all answered the same. But of course, Gally decided otherwise.

"I don't like him."

"We gathered that Gally," Newt said.

"No, I mean he's hiding something. And he knows it. And how come he's never run like that before? Why has he only know decided to do that?"

"Do you think I decided today to do it?" Leo asked annoyed. "I heard a scream, and without thinking, I ran in to save them. I didn't go, _hmm, today's the day I'm gonna show off my skills. _That thought didn't even cross my shucking mind!"

"Leo! Gally! Slim it," Alby yelled, banging his hand on the table.

The two stopped. They glared at each other, before looking away.

"Geez," Newt muttered under his breath.

"Gally, you wanna continue?" Alby asked.

"Of course I shucking do. This shank's been doing suspicious things from day one. Why is the only one who can calm Emil down? Why is he the only one Chuck likes? Why have him and Newt been acting so…weird recently?"

Newt and Leo glanced at each other. Had Gally caught on to their secret?

"What the bloody hell are ya talking about shank?" Leo asked.

"Haven't you seen 'em?" Gally asked the others. "They know something that we don't. I say we lock 'em both up for good!"

"Gally, keep you hole shut," Minho said, leaning against the back of his chair.

"I was told to state my opinion. So I am."

Alby held his head in his hands, clearly frustrated.

"Alright. Gally, that's enough. Newt, what do you think?"

Newt looked at her for a moment, not knowing what to think.

"Lock him up for a day, then try him out for a Runner."

"Have any of you considered that I might not want to be a Runner? I'm perfectly fine with the job I have now."

Alby seemed to ignore her and went to the next person. Minho.

"I agree. I don't know if he's Runner material. We'll try him out and see what happens from there."

Alby nodded. "Well, I think we've decided. All in favour of trying him out for a Runner?"

Most of the Keepers hands went up, even Edwin's.

The only one who's didn't was of course Gally and Leo.

"Alright, majority wins. Newt, take Leo to the Slammer. He'll learn his lesson there."

Leo rolled her eyes. Alby had become much colder since Nick's death, not really liking anyone. He tried to be friendly, but it wasn't him anymore. He had changed.

Newt sighed, standing up from his seat.

"Right. Let's go Leo," he said.

She shook her head. "Don't I get my say?"

Alby looked at the rest of the Keepers, and then groaned. "Fine. Shucking say it already."

She stood up. "Look, I don't want to be a Runner. But, if I do a good job at it, I'm not going in there as a full time Runner."

"What do you mean shank?" Edwin asked, finally announcing his presence.

"I mean, I don't want to run the Maze every day. Maybe one a week. You've got enough Runners to run the sections. I'd fill in if someone got sick or injured. That sound fair?"

She had her arms crossed across her chest, waiting for an answer.

"We'll consider it. Now get to the Slammer."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Training**

Her night in the slammer sucked. The ground was so hard that she couldn't sleep without her back aching. And the worst, she had training in the morning.

It was like the world hated her, along with the Creators. They were stuffing everything up for her. She didn't want to be a Runner unless they abided to her conditions. She wanted to be able to move without being worried that every step might be your last.

She groaned when she heard the loud banging on the Slammer door. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, looking up at the sun.

"Rise and Shine shank," Minho said as he bent down. "Time to start ya running."

…

Of course, he hadn't meant right away. They headed over to the kitchen where half of the Gladers were still eating.

"Still not a fan of meat?" he asked with a smirk.

"Shut it shank," she responded.

"Clearly not a morning person," he muttered.

"Not when you have to sleep in the Slammer."

"At least Newt brought you dinner. Most shanks that get thrown in there don't get that luxury."

Leo sighed, knowing she wasn't going to win. It didn't help that she couldn't be bothered arguing with him this early in the morning. Especially if she was going to be spending a whole day with him. She'd have plenty of time for arguing later.

"Whatever. Can we eat? I'm starving!"

A smile went to Minho's face. "Shuck yeah!"

She rolled her eyes. Of course Minho would cheer up at the sound of food.

...

They stood in the map room, looking at the boxes of running shoes.

"What size are ya?" he asked, rummaging through them.

"Uh…"

She lifted one of her shoes off and looked at the size written on the inside.

"Five."

"Five? Boy, ya got tiny as feet. Lucky for you, we have only a few pairs of those. Look, I could put these on my hands and they still wouldn't fit."

He took the runners out of the box and chucked them at Leo. She caught them with ease, noticing how small the shoes were compared to the others. Guess that was a perk of being a girl.

"Get them on quickly. Normally, I would test out how you run, but you've already done that. But, I'm gonna test ya endurance. See how long you can run in the Maze."

She nodded as she bent down, tying up her new shoes. They fit perfectly, and she wondered if the Creators had done that deliberately. They always seemed to give her perfectly fitted clothes, perfectly fitted shoes and even some hair ties when it got too hot to sleep with the wig on.

But, she wasn't going to do that one. She knew that had sent that as a temptation for her, for her to give up. If she had used them, taking off the wig, her secret would be uncovered and they would kill all of them.

Yeah, like she was gonna fall for that.

As she stood up, she felt an impact on her chest.

"Should be paying attention shank," Minho said with a smirk.

Leo noticed the object in her hands. It was the backpack that the Runners would wear whenever they went out to run. It was usually filled with food, water, and other things that were 'Runner's secrets'.

"Slip it on and we'll go. The Doors will open soon."

She nodded, grabbing the backpack and slipping the straps on her shoulders. He nodded at her, before he walked out of the map room.

…

She stood at the soon to be opening Doors to the Maze, something she thought she would never have to do. The other Runners were around her, remembering their sections and such. She would be running with Minho, trying to remember the way they went.

"Leo!"

She turned around and smiled. Newt walked up to her, a worried expression on his face. She met him halfway, moving away from the crowd of Runners.

"Newt, what's up?" she asked, rubbing her palms against her jeans.

"Look, just…be careful," he said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

She smiled. "Of course. Aren't I always?"

"I mean it. The Maze, it does some horrible things to ya. I don't ya to…"

She rested her hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry Newt, I'll be fine. I'll be with Minho. I won't be by myself. You have nothing to worry about."

Even though the words were reassuring, they didn't put Newt at much ease. She didn't want him to be worried about her, he had enough on his plate already.

She looked at the other Runners, making sure they weren't watching. They weren't. They were all too busy with their own worries. So, she did what she thought might help. Though it probably wouldn't, it'd be worth a try.

She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be fine," she said with a smile.

His face went completely red, and he looked like he was stuttering to get words out of his mouth.

The Doors quickly opened, the sound making her turn around.

"Well, I'll see ya later!" she said as she turned around and walked off.

She looked back and gave him a smile, making him blush even further.

She giggled as she reached Minho, who looked at her strangely.

"Ya right shank?"

"Yeah. I'm perfectly fine."

…

The two went through the West Door into Section eight, making their way down several corridors. Leo followed as best she could behind Minho as he turned right and left without a second thought, running the whole time.

They eventually made it to a rectangular cut in a long wall to the north that looked like a doorway, except with a door. Minho ran straight through it without stopping.

"What is this?" Leo asked.

"Leads from Section Eight to Section One. Ya know the passage is always in the same spot, but the route might be different because of the walls rearranging themselves."

Leo nodded, knowing full well about something from the Runners. Ben would gossip to her about it all the time. She couldn't sleep through the night, not only because of the Slammer, but because of the screams coming from Ben. She hadn't seen the Changing before, but she figured she would see it soon.

He continued to run, Leo following him, surprised at how heavy her breaths were becoming. They ran down a long corridor to the right, passing several turns to the left. She wondered how she was going to memorise this.

As they reached the end of the passage, Minho slowed down to a walk, reaching behind him to pull out a notepad and pencil from the side pocket of his backpack. He wrote something down, then put it back, never stopping his walking.

"I thought the _leader _didn't need to write notes?" she asked with a smirk.

"I rely mostly on memory," Minho insisted. "I write something down about every fifth turn."

"Huh, even the sassy Minho can't remember everything."

He took a glance behind her, looking at her with a playful glare.

"Oh ha ha, very funny."

They ran for a while again until they reached an intersection. Without even taking a second glance, he went to the right. He pulled out his knife from his pocket and cut a big piece of ivy off the wall. He threw it on the ground behind him, continuing to running.

Leo scoffed. "What are we? Hansel and Gretel?"

"Yep. I'm Hansel, you're Gretel."

"Why am I Gretel?"

"Because, the man's gotta take charge."

"What? Am I not manly enough for ya?"

He looked at her from behind his shoulder. "Who's the leader?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just cut the damn vine."

…

She had spent about four more hours in the Maze, taking a break every two hours, eating some food and having a drink of water.

"So, what's going on with you and Newt?" Minho asked.

Leo, not expecting it, chocked on her water.

"What the bloody hell do you mean shank?" she asked, after recovering from her choking fit. All the while, Minho was laughing his head off.

"Well, Gally thinks there's something there. So, you swing that way huh?" Minho asked with a smirk, pretending to be one of those annoying teenage girls who gossiped about anything and everything.

"No! There is nothing going on between us. Just friends."

She glared at him as his smirk grew wider.

"Really?"

"Yes…Shouldn't we get back to running?"

"Ah, avoiding the subject."

"Oh shut it ya slinthead."

Minho laughed as he stood back up, brushing himself off before he motioned for her to follow as he started to run again. She followed.

…

She groaned as she rubbed her sore knee. She had stupidly tripped over one of the cut ivy and scraped her knee on the ground. Minho, of course, found it funny. So, she pushed him down to the ground and he scraped his knees as well.

"Rude much," Minho said as he stood back up.

"Not rude enough," she said with a playful smile.

Minho looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed.

"Well, we better get back to the Glade."

She nodded, glad to be getting out of the Maze. The whole time she was running, she hated the ire feeling she got from taking every turn. She hated not knowing what was there, hidden in the darkness.

He ran after the fallen ivy, noting that nothing had changed about the Maze. Big surprise, it barley ever did. It only changed when the walls moved, but there was still no way out.

Sometimes, she even considered that they would never get out.

Soon, they reached the Glade an hour before the doors would close. As soon as she saw the grass, she dropped to her knees and just lied there.

Minho chuckled. "Ya right there shank?"

"Perfectly fine," she muttered with a smile.

Her legs were aching with how much they had run and she was out of breath. She knew that she couldn't do this every day, so her plan could possibly happen.

"Good thing you thought of that plan yesterday," Minho started as he crouched down next to her. "Otherwise you'd be running this thing every day."

She groaned, hating the thought of going through this much pain and then having to do it again and again for the rest of her life. Even thinking about it was making her tired.

"You gonna lie there all day?"

"Yep," Leo responded. She could tell that Minho rolled his eyes before walking off to the Map Room.

"I'll teach ya how to run it properly tomorrow," he called as he walked away.

"No!" she yelled into the grass, not wanting to be woken up early for a whole day of torture. She'd rather work with the Sloppers.

…

"So, how's training to be a Runner?" Chuck asked as he saw her lying on the ground.

"It's so tiring," she whined and he laughed.

"Oh please, it can't be worse than cleaning up klunk."

"Yes, it is. At least when cleaning you don't have to run."

Chuck was silent for a moment, like he was considering it.

"Good point. I guess being a Slopper ain't that bad after all."

She sighed, standing up as she brushed herself off. "Nice try kid. But I'd still prefer to be a Track-Hoe."

"Whatever shank," he said playfully. She laughed.

Anytime she heard him use the Glader slang, it made her laugh. Probably because he didn't fully understand what he was saying, besides klunk. He knew that one very well, mostly because he spent all day with it.

"Well, I better go get my knee checked out. I'll see ya later shank," she said, rustling his hair. She walked away, a smile on her face.

"You need to stop doing that!" he whined as he tried to fix it.

She laughed. "Ain't gonna happen!" she yelled.

…

She had finished getting her knee checked, which only needed a simple bandage to make sure it didn't get infected, she headed to one of the rooms with all the spare materials. She went into the room to get a change of clothes. Then she noticed Newt enter the room, looking distressed. He quickly shut the door and walked towards her.

"There you are," he said, his eyes full of concern.

"You alright?" she asked, confused as to what was going on.

"I thought you were still in there," he said, suddenly hugging her.

"Uh, what is this all about?"

He didn't respond, just continued to hug her. She had no idea what was going on, but she didn't mind. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, wondering how worried he was about her going into the Maze.

"Don't worry, I won't be going in there every day," she said.

He shook his head. "That's not enough."

He pulled away, taking a deep breath. "A second in that Maze can ruin you."

"And how do you know? Minho seems fine."

"Oh really? You should have seen him before he became a Runner."

She touched his shoulder lightly.

"What is this really about Newt?"

He gulped. He was hiding something, something to do with the Maze.

"…It's dangerous out there. For anyone. Especially you."

She knew what he meant. She had told him her nightmare about the Griever incident where she walked into the Maze without control. At that point, she hadn't even been in there.

"Newt, I'll be fine. I've survived this long haven't I?" she asked with a slight smile, softly rubbing his arms up and down, trying to stop his worry.

He didn't respond, but he lifted his head. Je stared into her eyes, knowing she was telling the truth. But, anytime she went into the Maze, he would worry like crazy and wouldn't get any work done, like he did that day.

She touched his cheek lightly, stroking it. She didn't know why she was doing this, but she knew that both of them needed it.

He looked down at her lips and then back at her eyes. She smirked.

"Are you really asking?" she said with a smirk before she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It took him a little to register what had happened, but he kissed back.

She pulled away.

"Now I've just complicated things," she muttered.

Newt had seemed to forget everything that had happened before this moment, none of it seemed to matter anymore.

"Things we're complicated before," he said and she laughed. "You've had no idea how long I've waited for that."

"Oh really? Am I that irresistible?" she asked with a smirk.

"Don't push it," he said playfully as he kissed her again, taking the pins out of her hair and slipping off the wig.

"Such a shame," he mutters.

"What?" she asked, looking down at her long strawberry blonde hair.

"That they make you cover up with this hideous wig," he said. She giggled.

"It is pretty horrible," she said.

He smiled, tangling his hands in her natural hair. She loved the feeling, so she kissed him again and again, fully knowing what the Creators would think.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – Greenie**

Today was the start of a new month, which meant that the new Greenie would be coming up in the Box. Leo guessed that her coming up was something out of the ordinary, considering that only boys would come up through the box. That's what Newt had told her anyway.

It was three quarters through the day and the Runners would be back soon. Frypan was starting to cook and prepare dinner as the Glade continued to work as usual.

So, as she worked through the Track-Hoes, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping the dirt off her hands, she wasn't surprised when she heard the Greenie alarm. But Chuck was.

"What is that?!" he screamed as he ran across the fields.

"Calm down Chuck," she said as she stood up, turning towards him. "It's just the Greenie alarm."

"The Greenie alarm?"

"Yeah, tells us that in 'bout half an hour, a new Greenie will come through the Box."

Chuck held his hands to his ears, hating the sound. "When does it stop?!"

"In about a minute. Come on, we gotta get to the box."

She placed a hand on his back and led him over to the box, his small hands still covering his ears. She knew how he felt so she tried to distract him.

"So, how's your day been?" she asked.

"What do you think?" Chuck asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cheer up. You're the Keeper of the Sloppers. Ain't ya proud of that bloody title?"

"Would you be?"

She thought for a moment. "Guess not."

…

Half an hour has passed and all the Gladers, besides the Runners and Frypan, were standing in front of the Box.

Newt and Leo stood at the sides of the box, waiting to pull it apart. They would send each other glances when the others weren't looking, winks and smirks as well. It was their way of communicating in a large group.

They heard bangs coming from inside the Box and she never realised how loud they were. It all seemed oblivious to her when she was in the Box.

"_Someone…help…me!" _a voice screamed from inside the Box. He sounded in so much pain, like every word ripped his throat raw.

"Alright, pull 'em apart," Alby announced as he stood at the edge.

Newt and Leo nodded, pulling on the hatch, the doors slowly opening.

"Oh shuck," Chuck said as he watched. He had never seen this before, so he must have thought it was a sight to see. It wasn't for Leo though, considering she had to do this every week.

The heavy grated sound began as the doors continued to open, getting a better look in the box.

There was a boy, backed into the corner. He looked terrified but didn't say a word, cry, throw a punch, nothing. Just covered his eyes with his hands from the sunlight.

"Look at that shank," one of the boys said.

"How old is he?"

"Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt."

"You're the klunk, shuck-face."

"Dude, it smells like _feet_ down there."

"Oh god," Leo muttered under her breath, plugging her nose.

"Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie," Gally remarked.

"Ain't no ticket back, bro," Alby said.

The poor boy had no idea of what was going on, like they were speaking another language. Well technically, they were.

His eyes seemed to widen when he noticed the amount of boys surrounding him, his eyes laying on Leo's, like he knew her from somewhere. Or maybe he had already figured out that she was different from the rest.

Whatever it was, she didn't like it and gulped.

He must have noticed because he quickly looked away, looking at all the other boys' faces. He seemed to be a little relieved to know that they were all a bunch of kids, teenagers.

Leo held onto the rope and lowered it down to him. The boy hesitated, but stepped into the hoop with his right foot. She pulled as hard as she could as he was lifted off the ground. Multiple hands reached down to pull him up, helping her.

Everyone had stopped talking, but Alby spoke as he pulled the Greenie over the edge of the Box.

"Nice to meet ya shank," he said. "Welcome to the Glade."

The Greenie staggered, still dazed from the light. None of them said anything as they boy looked at his surroundings, trying to take it all in.

Some of the others snickered, reaching out and poking him with their finger. She rolled her eyes at their childlike behaviour, like the Greenie was the fresh new toy in a classroom full of kindergarteners.

The Greenie then noticed the walls and tried to see the top, moving his head back as far as he could. He was entranced by them.

"Look at the Greenbean," Gally said. "Gonna beak his shuck neck checkin' out the new digs."

Several of the boys laughed, but Leo rolled her eyes.

"Shut it Gally," she said.

The boy turned around and stared at them, going from Newt, to Chuck, to Minho, to Leo and finally to Alby.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Nowhere good," Alby said. "Just slim yourself nice and calm."

"Which Keeper he gonna get?" someone shouted.

"I told ya shuck-face," a shrill voice said. "He's a klunk, so he'll be a Slopper – no doubt about it."

"He hasn't even been here a minute yet," Leo said to them and they stopped their giggling. She liked having some authority over them.

"I bet he can't even do that much," Gally said. "Bet my liver on it."

"I said shut your holes!" Alby yelled. "Keep yapping and next break'll be cut in half!"

The Gladers went quiet. Alby took a step forward, scowling.

"It's a long story shank. Piece by piece, you'll learn – I'll be takin' you on the Tour tomorrow. Till then…just don't break anything."

_What great advice._

He stuck his hand out. "Name's Alby."

The Greenie refused to shake his hand, walking to a nearby tree.

"What the shuck is he doing?" Leo whispered.

"Who knows?" Newt responded, shrugging.

The Greenie sat down with his back against the bark, taking a deep breath.

"Then tell me. Tell me the long story."

Alby glanced at Newt and Leo, rolling his eyes. The Greenie was already irritating him and he'd been here for a minute.

"Seriously," he continued. "Where am I?"

Alby walked over to him and sat next to him. Newt and Leo looked at each other before following, wanting to make sure nothing happened.

"If you ain't scared, you ain't human. Act any different and I'd throw you off the Cliff because it'd mean you're a psycho."

"The Cliff?" the Greenie asked, turning pale.

"Shuck it. Ain't no way to start these conversations, you get me? We don't kill shanks like you here, I promise. Just try and avoid _being_ killed, survive, whatever."

The Greenie turned even paler.

"Man, I ain't good at this – you're the first Greenbean since Nick was killed."

Newt and Leo stepped forward.

"Wait for the bloody Tour, Alby," Newt said as he playfully slapped Alby across the head. "Kid's gonna have a buggin' heart attack, nothin' even been heard yet."

He bent down and extended his hand towards the Greenie.

"Name's Newt Greenie, and we'd all be right cherry if ya'd forgive our klunk-for-brains new leader, here."

Leo giggled, trying her best not to laugh her head off.

The Greenie shook Newt's hand.

"Pipe it shuck-face," Alby said, pulling Newt to sit next to him. "At least he can understand _half _my words."

Some of the Gladers laughed behind him.

"Hey, I'm sure he can understand us plenty," Leo said as she bent down and sat next to Newt with a smile. She then turned to the Greenie. "I'm Leo. Nice to meet ya shank."

The Greenie shook her hand with a smile and she nodded back.

"This place is called the Glade, all right? It's where we live, where we eat, where we sleep – we call ourselves Gladers. That's all you-"

"Who sent me here?" the Greenie interrupted. "How'd-"

Alby's hand grabbed his shirt as he leaned forward on his knees.

"Alby!" Leo yelled, annoyed.

"Get up, shank, get up!" Alby stood, pulling the Greenie with him.

The Greenie backed against the tree.

"No interruptions boy! Whacker, if we told you everything, you'd die on the spot, right after you klunked your pants. Baggers'd drag you off, and you ain't no good to us then, are ya?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about."

Newt and Leo both grabbed Alby by the shoulders, stopping him from punching the Greenie.

"Alby, lay off a bit," Newt said. "You're hurtin' more than helpin', ya know?"

"Let go of him Alby," Leo said.

Alby took deep breaths as he pulled away. "Ain't got time to be nice, Greenbean. Old life's over, new life's begun. Learn the rules quick, listen, don't talk. You got me?"

The Greenie looked over at Newt and Leo for help, but they couldn't offer him any.

"Greenie, you got him, right?" Newt asked, nodding.

The Greenie looked like he wanted to punch someone.

"Did you get him?" Leo asked.

"Yeah."

"Good that," Alby said. "First Day. That's what today is for you, shank. Night's comin', Runners'll be back soon. The Box came late today, ain't got time for the Tour. Tomorrow morning, right after the wake-up."

He looked over at Newt and Leo. "Get him a bed, get him to sleep."

Leo nodded.

"Good that," Newt said.

Alby then glared at the Greenie. "A few weeks, you'll be happy, shank. You'll be happy and helpin'. None of us knew jack on First Day, you neither. New life begins tomorrow."

Alby then pushed through the crowd, walking over to the Homestead. Most of the kids wandered off to their jobs, but some stayed behind.

"Get back to work shanks!" Leo called to the remaining ones. They all retreated, the same as the others.

"What did I do?" the Greenie whispered. "What did I do – why'd they send me here?"

Newt clapped him on the shoulder. "Greenie, what you're feelin', we've all felt it. We've all had First Day, come out of that dark box. Leo here, shucked up his hands so badly he had to go to the Med-Jacks."

Leo rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather forget about that Newt," she said. The Greenie then glanced at her hands and noticed the scars.

"How'd you do that?" he asked.

"Punched the walls. Cut them open, left blood on the wall."

He looked at her like she was insane, saying that like it was something normal. But it was to her, considering everything else.

"Things are bad, they are, and they'll get much worse for ya soon, that's the truth," Newt continued, also referring to Leo. "But down the road a piece, you'll be fightin' true and good. I can tell you're not a bloody sissy."

"That would be a compliment," Leo said and the Greenie nodded.

"Is this a prison?"

"Done asked four questions, haven't ya? No good answers for ya, not yet, anyway. Best be quiet now, accept the change – morn comes tomorrow."

The Greenie looked at Leo, expecting her for some answers.

"Don't even bother shank," she said.

Newt glanced at her, they had the same idea. Chuck.

"Chuck'll be a good fit of ya," Newt said. "Wee little fat shank, but nice sap when all's said and done. Stay here, we'll be back."

A piercing scream ripped through the air, barley human. Every Glader turned to the Homestead. The Greenie turned pale.

Newt had jumped, startled, while Leo had clutched onto his arm. She hated his screams, they seemed familiar to her, though she had never seen the Changing before Ben.

"Bloody hell," she muttered, shaking. The Greenie stared at her, wondering why she had changed so much from one single scream. One minute she was tough and strong, next she was shaking like a leaf, holding onto Newt.

"Shuck it," he said. "Can't the bloody Med-jacks handle that boy for ten minutes without needin' our help?"

Leo shrugged. Newt shook his head, lightly kicking the Greenie's foot. "Find Chuckie, tell him he's in charge of your sleepin' arrangements. Come on, Leo, we gotta deal with this."

She nodded, though she was nervous of seeing Ben again. She took a glance at the Greenie, giving him a nod.

"Chuck's a good kid. You'll like him," she said before she turned and followed Newt.

The Greenie stared at her, wondering why she looked and sounded so much like what he thought would have been a girl. Maybe he was mistaken.

…

"Don't worry," Newt reassured her as they entered the Homestead. "You'll be fine."

They walked up the stairs, Leo's heart beating faster and faster.

"I know that. But…"

He kissed her on the cheek, trying to calm her down.

"We've done this before. We can do it again."

She sighed, looking down before she weakly nodded. He placed his hand on her shoulder before he opened the door, seeing Alby standing in front of the bed, where Ben lied, going through the Changing.

He had sickly green veins showing on all his limps, purplish bruises covering him along with red hives and bloody scratches. She knew she would never be able to look at him again without seeing the image of him like this.

Ben continued to scream, her covering her ears.

"How long does the Changing usually last?" Leo asked, trying not to look.

"Depends," Alby muttered. "Ranges from person to person."

That fact didn't comfort her. He could be like this for weeks? For months? The thought sickened her to no end. She sometimes wondered if it would have been better to just let him die in the Maze instead of going through this torture.

"_The Changing!" _Gally's voice shouted. _"Look forward to it, shuck-face!"_

Leo glared at the door, wanting to punch him. He must be scaring the Greenie again, like he tried to do with Chuck, but she stopped him.

She turned her attention back to Ben, hating what the Creators had put him through. It was sickening.

The brass handle on the door turned and the door opened. Leo's head snapped round before the others, seeing the Greenie there.

"Oh shuck,'" she muttered, catching Alby's attention.

He jumped up, blocking the Greenie's view. The screams continued as he pushed him out of the room.

"What're you doing up here, Greenie!" he yelled.

"I…uh…want some answers," the Greenie murmured. He had seen too much.

"Get your runtcheeks down those stairs right now. Chuck'll help you. If I see you again before tomorrow morning, you ain't reachin' another one alive. I'll throw you off the Cliff myself, you get me?"

Newt looked at Leo, his face not knowing what to do. She didn't either.

The Greenie looked humiliated. Without another word, he pushed past Alby and ran down the stairs, running out the door.

"Leo, make sure he keeps outta trouble," Alby said.

"But…"

"We got it covered Leo," Newt said with a smile, telling her it was okay. She nodded, heading out the door and down the stairs.

She saw Gally and his group snickering about the Greenie.

"Hope ya proud of yourselves shanks," she said annoyed.

"Very," Gally responded with a smirk.

…

She walked towards the two who were near the Doors, the Greenie very interested in them. He leaned more forward.

"Are you shuckin' kiddin' me?" she muttered as she ran towards them.

Without warning, she tackled the Greenie to the ground, moving him away from the Doors.

"What the bloody hell do ya think you're doing Greenie?" she yelled.

He looked stunned, taken aback by her sudden lunge.

"W-What?"

"The Doors were about to close ya shank! Didn't ya tell him?"

She glared at Chuck who became flustered.

"I was gonna, but then you tackled him to the ground."

She sighed. At least Chuck was gonna stop him. She brushed herself off as she stood up.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, offering her hand. "Got a bit nervous there."

He glanced at her hand. He looked at Chuck, who nodded. The Greenie took her hand, letting her pull him up.

"Doors?" he asked, staring at the walls. "I don't see any doors."

"They aren't that obvious until they start to close. They're just big openings during the day."

"They close up every night," Chuck finished.

"What do you mean they close?"

"Just see for yourself in a minute. The Runners'll be back soon; then those big walls are going to move until the gaps are closed."

"You're jacked in the head."

"Then I guess we're all a little jacked in the bloody head."

The Greenie glanced at her, like he was trying to figure out her voice.

"Accent," she clarified. "Came from a different country than all the other shanks. Newt's from the same place, we think."

"Yeah, that's why they sound the same," Chuck said.

"Shut it."

The Greenie glanced at the doors again, staring at them.

"Got a name Greenie?" she asked.

"Thomas."

"Well Thomas, I see Chuck's taking good care of ya. I'll be off then. Gotta finish my job for the day. See ya."

She waved, which Chuck returned, before walking off to Zart who was watching her.

"Where've you been?" he asked.

"Alby's instructions. Take care of Ben, than check the Greenie."

He nodded, handing her a shovel. She gathered what she had to do as she dug it into the ground, lifting up the dirt.

_He's gonna be an interesting one. That shanks way too bloody curious. He might be more trouble than he's worth._


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Another**

_The bright light burned her eyes as she ran after the small blonde girl. The girl looked back at her, but she could only see her bottom half of her face. Her top half was still shrouded in black._

"_This, is our life," the girl whispered, her dress still covering her mouth and nose._

_Leo looked at the town. Destruction was everywhere. Blood was poured onto the street, burning corpses lied on the ground, and buildings were destroyed._

_Leo couldn't believe it. What had happened?_

_But, the location looked so familiar._

"Our life?"

_The girl nodded, like it was obvious. She looked at the streets, and then at all the houses, like she knew who were living there. _

"_You used to live here," the girl said. "This used to be your home."_

"My…home?"

_During her few months in the Glade, the thought of her real home hadn't even crossed her mind. Now she understood why._

"_It'll never be the same…"_

_The girl trailed off, looking around. She didn't seem scared about this location and Leo had to wonder, how long had she been here?_

_She couldn't even comprehend that this place could have been her home when she was little. But, where was her family? Where was everyone?_

_The streets were deserted besides the corpses, but screams were heard all around them. They were horrific._

_They sent chills up her back, making her shiver. They were so blood curdling, like someone was torturing them. It reminded her so much of the screams made through Ben's Changing. It put her on edge._

_The girl bent down, picking something up off the ground. She inspected it, then smiled. She held it in her hands like it was a trophy._

_Leo looked at her with confusion. The girl had picked up a metal pole from a street sign. The stop sign was detached, a few feet away._

_The girl looked at her. "Defence."_

"Defence?"

_The girl then pulled out the knife she had and smirked. She placed the knife on the end of the metal pole and started to sharpen it._

"_A way to defend myself."_

Defend yourself?

"_Defend? From what?"_

_The girl continued to sharpen the metal pole, liking the new weapon in her hands. Leo wondered what could have happened to make a three year old act this way. _

"_The disease…"_

"Disease? What disease?"

"_Spread fast. Got almost everyone in town."_

_Leo shook her head. There was no way that this was all caused by some kind of disease. It seemed, unreal._

"But…how?"

_The girl looked at her. "You go crazy…Turn into him."_

_She then pointed over to a man who stumbled down the street. Leo looked and gasped, almost in shock. This man was so…_

_He had bloody sores all over his body. Parts of his hair were torn out, leaving bald patches. He had no nose and only one arm, his eyes hollow, but filled with animal like emotions. _

_The man was more animal than anything._

"What…is that thing?" _Leo whispered, her chest tightening in fear. It stumbled closer to them, but was still far away._

_The girl shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. She looked down at the ground, almost too scared to look back up at the diseased man._

"_My father…"_

…

She woke up with a start and realised that the sun was up. Some of the Gladers had started getting up, getting ready for their day of work. She knew she had to do the same considering her job.

She heard the beeping sound of her watch and sighed. She pressed a button on it and the beeping stopped. Her alarm clock was the worst thing in the world. It also woke up some of the other Gladers, who weren't very appreciative of it.

She hated the dreams she had, because he had no idea what to think of them. Were they real or just figments of her imagination? All she knew was they left her in a very bad mood for the rest of the day.

She quickly put the pins in her hair before she walked towards the Map Room, where her sneakers and her backpack were. She sighed as she entered, seeing the other Runners getting suited up.

She grabbed her pair of sneakers and laced them up. Having the smallest feet made her shoes really identifiable from the others. Minho placed the long knife in her hands, nodding.

Today was her first official day by herself in the Maze. She had done more training with Minho during the past week before Thomas arrived, but she had never gone by herself.

She was taking over Ben's section, Section 6. It was one of the average sections, not too hard and not too easy. Perfect for her.

She strapped the backpack on and walked out of the map room, heading over to breakfast where her plate of fruits awaited.

Newt stood there to greet her like he normally did.

"Hey, ready to run?" he asked.

He was trying to act brave, but she knew he was terrified for her safety. He always would be.

"Ready as ever," she responded with a smile.

He knew that she was trying to act brave, but she was scared about what lurked in there. The Grievers.

He nodded, looking around to make sure no one could see them. He took hold of her arm and dragged her into the Deadheads.

He kissed her when they were out of view and she happily kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms slipped around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Come back safety," he whispered.

"Of course," she whispered back, kissing him again.

…

She ran down the first corridor of the Maze, dreading the moment when she'd reach the section. Section 6. Where Ben was stung in broad daylight.

She didn't have the greatest stamina, but she would manage if she walked every now and then. And, there was no one to tell her different.

She took out the knife from her back and started chopping the ivy off the walls, making sure she would remember her way back to the Glade. Every now and then she would glance at her watch, wondering how much time she had left. It was very annoying because it would never be the time she wanted.

She had to admit. Being a Runner was boring. A lot of them had said the same thing. Running the same Section over and over again with nothing changing got tiring. She was experiencing that, and she'd only been in there for a few hours.

She drew a little picture of a flower on one of the pieces of paper, continuing to cut the ivy off the walls. She saw the sign once again, its words haunting her.

**WORLD IN CATASTROPHE:  
>KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT<strong>

She hated those words. Killzone. Catastrophe. Experiment. They all gave her chills. She shuddered as she walked past, heading towards her Section.

Suddenly, a blaring alarm went off, hurting her ears.

"Bloody hell," she muttered, covering her ears. But then she realised what the alarm was.

_The Greenie Alarm? Why is the Greenie Alarm going off?_

She looked at the Section entrance and then back down the corridors she had just run. The alarm continued to blare, and she knew something was going on. Without another thought, she ran back down the corridor, following the cut ivy.

She kept running down the corridors, running as fast as she could. This wasn't right. The Greenie alarm shouldn't be going off. It had only been a day.

What were the Creators doing?

…

As she ran back into the Glade, she noticed some of the Runners had followed her, thinking the same thing.

"What the shuck is goin' on?" one of them asked.

"Why's the Greenie Alarm going off?" another asked.

She had gathered that half of the Runners were back in the Glade, the other half still running their sections.

Leo saw all the Gladers becoming panicked, wondering what was going on. She noticed Thomas, Newt and Chuck and she rushed over to them.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" she asked Newt.

"Why are you back?" he asked.

"The Alarm," she said, not caring the consequences. Newt smiled, thanking god that she didn't have to run that day.

"Newt, what's going on?" Thomas yelled.

Newt glanced at him, then at Leo. She nodded and they two walked over to him. He swatted Thomas on the back.

"Means a bloody Newbie's comin' up in the Box." He paused. Thomas should have felt something, but there was no emotion in his face. "Right _now._"

"So?" Thomas asked, looking confused.

"_So?_ Greenie, we've never had two Newbies show up in the same _month, _much less two days in a row."

Newt then looked at Leo before he ran off towards the Homestead.

"Leo? What does he mean?" Thomas asked.

"We get a new boy every month. Same day each month. Like a schedule. Been that way since forever. Never had we had two show up two days in a row."

Thomas looked startled at that. He couldn't even comprehend it.

…

The alarm had finally stopped, and the crowd had gathered around the Box. Leo had left to go to the Homestead to check on Ben. Newt and Alby were there, checking with Jeff and Clint.

She had to fetch them to the Box. Otherwise, the Gladers would panic.

As the three walked out, she noticed Thomas staring at them. His face paled. He must have known what they were doing. Looking after Ben.

The two continued to talk as the three reached the crowd, pushing through to get to the entrance to the box.

Everyone was quiet as they listened to the Box lifting up towards them. Alby nodded at her, and she took her positon at the opposite side of the Box from Newt. They yanked the hooks and the doors opened.

The puff of dust caught her off ground and she coughed.

Newt leaned forward to get a better look in the Box. With a sudden jerk, he pushed himself back. "Holy…" he whispered.

Leo rushed over to him, looking into the Box. "Bloody hell," she muttered.

Alby looked in too, having a similar reaction. "No way."

The Glade quickly filled with questions, everyone trying to get a better look in the Box. Leo turned and saw Thomas wanting to do the same, but he hesitated.

"Hold on!" Alby yelled. "Just hold on!"

"Well, what's wrong?" Edwin yelled.

Alby stood up. "Two Newbies in two days," he whispered. "Now this. Two years, nothing different, now this."

Leo could beg to differ. To them, nothing was different. But to her and Newt, everything had been different from the day she arrived.

Alby then looked over at Thomas. "What's goin' on here, Greenie?"

Thomas looked confused, his face bright red. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Why don't you just tell us what the shuck is down there, Alby?" Gally yelled. The mummers and questions had continued.

"You shanks shut up! Tell 'em Newt."

Newt looked back down in the Box, trying to see if this was real or not.

"It's a girl."

The Glade roared up in questions. Leo felt disgusted.

"_A girl?"_

"I got dibs!"

"What's she look like?"

"How old is she?"

Leo felt sick in the stomach. The poor girl hadn't even been here for a minute and she already had every guy fawning over her. Poor girl.

"That's not bloody half of it." He pointed into the Box. "I think she's dead."

…

A couple of the boys grabbed the rope and lowered Newt, Alby and Leo into the Box. Leo looked down at the girl.

She was defiantly beautiful, what the Gladers would have imagined a girl to look like. She had really pale skin with tar black hair. She couldn't have been older than sixteen.

_Why would they send a girl? And if they were going to send her, then why disguise me as a boy?_

"Ready!" Alby shouted as they attached the rope onto the girl.

Gally and a couple of others pulled up the rope, lifting the girl into the air. Soon, the girl's lifeless body was dragged out and onto the ground.

Leo looked away when she saw the boys scramble around her like a pack of wolves. She was their fresh piece of meat. A tasty piece of meat.

Alby was the first to be lifted out of the box, then Newt. He gave her his hand with a smile and she smiled back. He pulled her out of the box and then walked over to the girl.

"Greenie, get over here," Newt said, pointing to Thomas.

Thomas started to sweat from nerves. He looked guilty, though she didn't think he had done anything. But, it was still suspicious.

Leo knelt beside the girl, wondering if she was dead or not. She wasn't breathing, but all the guys were eyeing her like their prey.

Thomas approached them, staring at the girl in awe.

"You know this girl, shank?" Alby asked.

"_Know_ her? Of course I don't know her. I don't know anyone. Except for you guys."

"That's not…"

"Does she look familiar?" Leo interrupted before Alby lost his cool. "Seen her before? Anything?"

"No. Nothing." Thomas looked at his feet, and then the girl.

"You sure?" Alby asked. He didn't believe Thomas, and neither did most of the Gladers.

"_Yes. _Why?"

"Shuck it. Can't be a coincidence. Two days, two Greenies, one alive, one dead."

"You don't think I…"

"Slim it Greenie," Newt said. "We're not sayin' you bloody killed the girl."

"Are you sure you've _never _seen her before?" Leo asked.

"I swear she doesn't look familiar at all," Thomas said.

"Are you-"

Suddenly, the girl presumed to be dead shot up. She sucked in a huge breath, her eyes snapping open as she blinked, looking around the crowd. Alby yelled and fell backwards. Newt jumped up, stumbling away from her. Leo panicked and crawled away from her.

Thomas didn't move.

The girl's blue eyes darted back and forth as she scanned the crowd. Anytime she glanced at Leo, she felt like the girl was staring into her soul.

"_Everything is going to change."_

Her voice was hollow and haunted, but clear. It terrified Leo.

The girl's eyes rolled up into her head as she fell back to the ground. Her right fist shot into the air, staying rigid, pointing to the sky. In her hand was a piece of paper.

Leo walked toward the girl, pulling her fingers apart. Newt grabbed the letter before it fell out. He unfolded the note, dropping to his knees as he spread the note onto the ground.

"Oh my god," Leo muttered.

Written on the piece of paper were five words, written in the same thick black ink as Leo's note:

**She's the last one.  
>Ever.<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Attack**

The whole Glade became silent, even the animals knew that something bad had happened. Newt read the message aloud for the Gladers in the back who couldn't see. She had expected everyone to start an uproar in questions, but they were all just confused.

Leo stared back down at the girl, who was now breathing as if she was sleeping. She was defiantly alive, much to everyone's disbelief.

Newt stood back up, crumbling the note in his hand. Leo looked away from the girl, like she was going to be sick. She felt uneasy, like this girl was going to be much more trouble than she was worth.

"Med-jacks!" Alby shouted.

Clint and Jeff immediately pushed through the crowd, almost pushing Thomas to the ground.

"So what do we do with her?" Jeff asked.

"How should I know?" Alby said. "You two shanks are the Med-jacks-figure it out."

"Is she…alright?" Leo asked, unsure of what to ask.

Clint bent down, kneeling beside the girl, checking her pulse and listening to her heartbeat. He nodded at her.

"Who said Clint had first shot at her?" one of the boys shouted. Several people laughed. "I'm next!"

Leo wanted to throw up. She was kind of glad now that her secret hadn't been revealed. And this girl was on the verge of death. How desperate are they?

Ably glared. "If anybody touches this girl, you're gonna spend the night sleepin' with the Grievers in the Maze. Banished, no questions."

He paused, staring at every Glader. "Ain't nobody better touch her! Nobody!"

Clint stood up. "She seems fine. Breathing okay, normal heartbeat. Though it's a bit slow. Your guess is as good as mine, but I'd say she's in a coma. Jeff, let's take her to the Homestead."

_Coma? How could she be in a coma? She was fine a second ago…_

Jeff grabbed her arms as Clint grabbed hold of her feet. Leo hoped that when they lifted her, they wouldn't drop her.

"On the count of three," Jeff said. "One…two…three!"

They lifted her quickly – she was lighter than they'd thought – and Leo shouted.

"Be careful!" she warned.

"Don't worry, we got it," Clint said.

"Guess we'll have to see what she does," Jeff said. "We can feed her soupy stuff if she doesn't wake up soon."

"Just watch her closely," Newt said. "Must be something special about her or they wouldn't have sent her here."

She looked over at Thomas, who looked like he was going to be sick. He looked uneasy, and he kept staring at her like he knew her from somewhere. She now wondered if sending her up had an even deeper meaning than they thought.

"Put her next to Ben's room, and keep a watch on her day and night. Nothin' better happen without me knowing about it. I don't care if she talks in her sleep or takes a klunk – you come tell me."

"Yeah," Jeff muttered. Clint and him then walked off to the Homestead, the Gladers finally deciding to talk.

"Something's wrong," Leo muttered.

"You mean more than her being sent here?" Newt asked.

She nodded. "Two Greenies in two days. Why?"

She glanced over at Thomas, who still looked uneasy. "There's got to be some connection."

Newt looked at Thomas and nodded. "Yeah."

Alby grabbed Thomas' shoulders, suspicious of him. "You ain't never seen her before?"

Thomas hesitated. "Not…no, not that I remember."

"You're sure?" Newt asked.

"I…no. I don't think so. Why are you grilling me like this?"

"Why do you think?" Leo asked. "Two Greenie's in two days? It's a bit suspicious."

Thomas gulped, thinking he had been found out or something. Did he really know her and was lying to them?

Alby shook his head, turning to Newt, releasing his grip on Thomas. "Something's wacked. Call a Gathering."

Newt nodded. Alby, Newt and Leo all walked off, leaving Chuck to deal with Thomas, though it should have been the other way round.

…

"We've been having way too many of these," Leo muttered, sinking into her chair. She hated Gatherings. They got so boring after a while.

"Anybody got any idea what's goin' on?" Alby asked, annoyed. Alby never liked when he didn't know something, so this must have been bugging him to no end.

"Something bad," Edwin said.

"Besides that shuck-face."

"Why would they send a girl up?" Newt asked. "What's there motive?"

"Clearly, it has something to do with Thomas. He's been suspicious since day one," Gally remarked.

"Day one was only yesterday," Leo said.

"Doesn't matter! We need to lock him up. He doesn't belong here. He's…different. I saw him in the Changing. I knew I had seen him somewhere. He knows somethin' that we don't."

Leo never knew what to think of Gally, but she had no other options at this point than to believe that he saw Thomas in the Changing. Why would he lie about that?

"Are ya sure? You're not confusing with anyone else?" Leo asked.

"Positive."

The Keepers went into whispers, wondering what was going on. No one knew what to think of the girl, nor Thomas. They could be innocent and just victims like the rest of them, or criminals who were sent here for the Gladers demise.

And Leo had an idea that she wouldn't find out until the very end.

…

Leo walked through the graveyard, looking at the graves of the people she would never meet. What were they like? Were they nice people? Or where they just naïve to the new world around them?

"Leo?"

She turned and saw Thomas standing there, staring at her. She noticed his pants were dusty, so he must have been leaning down to look at one of the graves.

"Yeah, it's me. What are ya doing?"

She could tell that Thomas wasn't used to her accent, like he wasn't used to Newt's, but she knew he would get over it, eventually.

"What was the Gathering about?"

"Oh, we were just talking."

"About what?"

She glared at him slightly, crossing her arms. "Bit curious, are we?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Thomas asked, staring down at the grave of Nick. She gulped, she hadn't seen his grave in a while.

The glass on top showed his rotting corpse, sawed in half. She looked away, feeling like she was going to be sick. She had no idea how Thomas could stand to look at it for more than a second.

The sign was written by Alby, his handwriting obvious compared to everyone else's. His words ridiculous, but true beyond disbelief.

**Let this half-shank be a warning to all:  
>You can't escape through the Box Hole.<strong>

"You were there…weren't you?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I was."

"What…happened to him?"

She sighed. If he was going to be a fellow Glader, he would need to know.

"He was our leader, before Alby took over. When Chuck arrived, he volunteered to go down after the Box left. We lowered him down…and then when we pulled him back up, he was sawed in bloody half, his lower half gone."

Thomas looked horrified. He didn't want to believe that something like that could happen, but it had. It meant there was no escape for them.

"Alby took over, that's why he's so cold. He was like that to me too. And Chuck. He's not one for questions."

"Not like I couldn't tell," he muttered, thinking she couldn't hear him.

Suddenly, a twig snapped. Leo sharply turned her head, knowing neither of them had moved. When nothing happened, she took a deep breath.

Another twig snapped. Thomas stood up, knowing it was coming from right in front of him, behind the trees.

It was coming closer and closer as the snaps continued, growing louder.

"Who's out there?" he called.

She didn't say anything as she slowly went for her knife in her pocket, something she kept to protect herself out in the Maze. She grabbed it and lifted it out of her pocket, holding it behind her back.

"Seriously, this is stupid."

"Thomas, shush," Leo whispered. He turned to her, seeing the knife behind her.

The person ran towards them, giving up all his stealth.

Thomas froze, panic taking over. The figure was of a shadow limping, running.

"Who the he-"

"Thomas!" she shushed.

The boy burst through the trees. "Holy shuck," she muttered.

It was Ben.

Thomas cried out as he tried to run. Ben leaped into the air, crashing on top of him, gripping him with strong hands. Thomas crashed onto the ground, snapping one of the graves in two.

"Ben! Get off him!" Leo shouted as she lunged at him, prying him off of Thomas.

"Don't interfere!" Ben screamed, not wanting to hurt her. It was evident as he did not fight hard against her, but more at keeping his grip on Thomas' neck. She pulled as hard as she could, letting Thomas push Ben off him, making them both tumble onto the ground.

Leo groaned as her back landed on the grass, knowing her knife was gone somewhere. She noticed the glint in the distance and she went to her knees, rapidly crawling towards it.

Ben crouched, ready to spring towards Thomas. Leo grabbed for the knife but Ben's hand reached for it first, grabbing it with his right hand.

"No!" she shouted as he started walking towards Thomas. She clawed for his ankles, but he moved too quickly.

"_Ben!_"

Alby stood at the edge of the graveyard, holding a bow and arrow, aiming at Ben's chest.

"Oh thank bloody god," Leo muttered.

Ben's attention had moved from Thomas and over to Alby. She stood up and rushed over to Thomas, checking for injuries.

"Ben. Stop right now, or you ain't gonna see tomorrow."

"If you kill me," Ben shrieked, "you'll get the wrong guy." He turned to Thomas. "He's the shank you wanna kill."

"Don't be stupid, Ben. Thomas just got here – ain't nothing to worry about. You're still buggin' from the Changing. You should've never left your bed."

"He's not one of us! I saw him – he's…he's bad. We have to kill him! Let me gut him!"

She never could have guessed that the Changing could affect someone this bad. She pushed Thomas behind her, wishing she had her knife back in her hand. She knew more about self-defence than he did, she needed to protect him.

_Ben saw him too…Is Thomas really that bad?_

"You leave that to me, the Keepers and Leo to figure out, shuck-face. Right now, back your scrawny butt down and get to the Homestead."

"He'll wanna take us home. He'll wanna get us out of the Maze. Better we all jumped off the Cliff! Better we tore each other's guts out!"

"Ben, what-" Leo started.

"What are you talking-" Thomas began.

"Shut your face! Shut your ugly, traitorous face!"

"Ben, I'm gonna count to three."

"He's bad, he's bad, he's bad…," Ben whispered, swaying her knife back and forth. She really wanted that knife back.

"One."

"Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad…"

"Two."

"Ben, please, don't do this," Leo whispered.

"He's bad, he's not one of us, he's bad…"

"Ben," Thomas started, "I'm not…I don't even know what-"

Ben then screamed, slashing the air with Leo's blade, leaping into the air.

"Three!"

The bow released the arrow, and it went flying straight into Ben's cheek. It snapped to the left, twisting his body until he landed on his stomach.

Leo covered her mouth with her hand, tears stinging her eyes as her panicked breaths emerged. She had just seen the person she had saved shot. He had to be dead. There was no way he could be alive after that.

Ben's pinky finger twitched as the blood oozed out.

Alby noticed Leo's distress and lowered his bow. He nodded at her, gesturing for her to run.

Without even looking at Thomas, she ran off towards the Homestead, leaving them behind. She felt sick, her stomach in knots. She was going to have terrible nightmares, and she was going to see him in her thoughts for longer than she ever wanted to. Ben was dead, and she had witnessed it.

…

_The little girl stared at the diseased man, who she had just announced to Leo was her father. The girl had tears in her eyes, gulping as she chocked on them. She couldn't look at him, she was going to cry._

"Your father?"

_The girl nodded, holding onto Leo's arm._

"_He's gone…He's gone," she whispered over and over again, sobbing into Leo's jacket. Leo rubbed the top of her head, comforting her._

_The diseased man noticed them, and screamed. He stumbled as he charged towards them, speeding up as he reached closer and closer._

"Shucking hell!"

_The girl shot her head up, gasping as she watched her father charge at them. He lunged at Leo, ignoring the girl._

_Leo screamed as he pounced on her, pushing her down to the ground, screaming and clawing at her face, trying to rip off her skin._

_The girl panicked, not knowing what to do. She didn't want to attack her father, but she didn't want someone to die either. Especially her._

_She clutched the metal pole as she swallowed her sadness and changed it to anger._

"Ah! Get off me!"

_Leo grabbed the man's hands, trying to push him off her. He sneered at her, showing his disgusting rotten teeth. She screamed and screamed, using all of her strength but it wasn't working._

"_Get away from her!"_

_The little girl leaped into the air, swinging the metal pole down on her father's skull, spiking it with the sharpened end. The man stopped, instantly falling to the ground as he died._

_He rolled off of Leo and onto the ground, blood oozing onto the ground._

_The girl dropped the metal pole, tears flowing down her cheeks as she stared at her father's body. She lunged at Leo, pulling her into a hug._

"_He's gone…He's gone…He's gone…"_

_Leo didn't know what to say, but hold her. She held her as the girl's tears stained her shirt. Two dreams ago, she couldn't even touch the girl, let alone have something else touch her._

_She almost died in her own dream, she saw her 'life' flashing before her eyes. And by life, she means the life at the Glade. Everything else was gone. _

_She was kind of glad now that she didn't know her parents. She would never have to deal with something like this._

…

"Another nightmare?" Newt asked as they sat alone in the Deadheads. It was the next morning, and things had only gotten worse after Ben's attack.

She nodded, sitting underneath the tree.

"It's like a continuation. It keeps telling me the story…This can't just be a dream."

Newt stared at the ground, not sure what to think. No matter what she said, he really hoped that it was just a dream and nothing more.

Leo sighed, wanting to change the subject.

"How's the girl doing?"

"Still breathin'. Hasn't woken yet, we don't think she will for a while…How are you with…Ben?"

Ben was lying in one of the beds in the Homestead, the Med-jacks unsure of his condition. He was either dead, or dying.

She shook her head, not knowing how she felt. He looked down at his pocket, rummaging his hand through it. He pulled something out, placing it in her hand.

"We got your knife back. At least that hasn't changed."

She held the knife in her hand, glad she had gotten it back. It was one of the only things in the Glade that made her safe. And after the attack, she was going to want it more and more.

"Thanks," she muttered, placing the knife in her back pocket.

Newt noticed her distress and wrapped his arm around her. "You'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll get out of here and live happy lives."

She smiled slightly. She always loved his words of encouragement, though they were outrageous, they made her feel better.

"I only wished that was true," she whispered as he kissed her forehead, rubbing her arms up and down.

They quickly separated though when they heard twigs snapping. They both stood up, seeing Chuck running towards them.

"Guys! Alby has important information!"

Leo and Newt glanced at each other, confused.

"Good or bad?" Leo asked.

Chuck looked unsure of how to answer.

"Let's assume neither," Newt said. "What is it Chuck?"

Chuck quickly panted, trying to catch his breath. "Ben…he's alive…He's not dead."

Leo's eyes widened. Ben was alive. Newt was right, it was neither good news nor bad news.

"He's alive…But…how?" Leo asked.

Chuck shrugged. Newt narrowed his eyebrows, knowing what this meant.

"Leo, get the Gladers ready. Tonight, we banish him to the Grievers."


End file.
